Schloss Lehrensteinsfeld

Schloss Lehrensteinsfeld is a Renaissance castle and agricultural estate in the municipality of Lehrensteinsfeld in the Landkreis Heilbronn, in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The castle was built in the mid-16th century by the von Gemmingen family on foundations dating back to the Middle Ages, and it was later remodeled in the early French classicist style. In 1649 the castle and the village of Lehrensteinsfeld were acquired by Field Marshal Ludwig von Schmidberg, who had served both King Gustav Adolf of Sweden and the French during the Thirty Years' War. His descendants redesigned the south facade in 1770 in the incipient French classicist taste. The Dietzsch family acquired the castle together with its Lehrensteinsfeld holdings in 1887. For his modern and forward-looking fruit growing, the estate owner Carl Dietzsch was named an honorary senator of the Agricultural University of Hohenheim in 1961. After a 25-year pause, the present owners, the Dietzsch-Doertenbach family, carefully replanted the previously leased vineyards, continued to cultivate fruit growing, and thereby created an insider tip for connoisseurs and lovers in the Renaissance castle and its associated landed property. The castle is a gabled building a good 40 meters long and almost 15 meters deep. A walled courtyard framed by farm buildings separates the main side, which faces south-southeast, from the road coming from Steinsfeld. A large garden adjoins the northern long side, which has two small projections crowned by gables. A tower, square at the bottom and octagonal at the top, stands before the northwest corner of the castle; since it is no taller than the main building, it does not appear from the front. Beneath the entire length of the structure is a large barrel-vaulted cellar accessible through a cellar neck in the west gable. Today the estate operates as a winery and fruit-growing business, and the castle itself is a well-known local landmark and event venue.

The castle stands in the south of Lehrensteinsfeld, on the edge of the village and at the highest point of the former Steinsfeld district near the border with Lehren. A castle site (Burgstall) mentioned in 1378 was probably located at this spot, where the Lords of Weinsberg, then local lords of Steinsfeld, permitted a Siegfried von Michelfeld to build a house. When Lehren and Steinsfeld were divided in 1518 in the inheritance of Pleikard von Gemmingen (d. 1515), they passed to his son Philipp von Gemmingen (d. 1544), who received a farmstead in Heilbronn as compensation because Steinsfeld was still entirely unbuilt after a fire. As late as 1535 the old castle site was described in a report as "desolate" and "destroyed for a long time." In 1540 Philipp von Gemmingen began the new construction of the castle. It probably reached its present dimensions only toward the end of the 16th century, presumably after 1585 (when the von Gemmingen family received hunting rights in the Steinsfeld district), although older components from after 1535 and from the Middle Ages were reused. In 1649 Field Marshal Ludwig von Schmidberg bought the village and castle of Lehrensteinsfeld. Under Baron Johann Friedrich Karl von Schmidberg, the last owner of the castle from that family, the main facade facing the road to the village was redesigned in the style of incipient classicism. After various changes of ownership, Julius Dietzsch acquired the castle together with its associated agricultural estate in 1865. His descendants are the present owners of the castle and operate a winery there. The official website adds that the Dietzsch family acquired the castle in 1887 together with its Lehrensteinsfeld holdings, and that for his modern and forward-looking fruit growing the estate owner Carl Dietzsch was named an honorary senator of the Agricultural University of Hohenheim in 1961. After a 25-year pause, the present owners, the Dietzsch-Doertenbach family, carefully replanted the previously leased vineyards, continued to cultivate fruit growing, and thereby created an insider tip for connoisseurs and lovers in the Renaissance castle and its associated landed property.

• 1961

  Estate owner Carl Dietzsch is named an honorary senator of the Agricultural University of Hohenheim for his modern fruit growing.

• 1887

  The Dietzsch family acquires the castle together with its Lehrensteinsfeld holdings.

• 1865

  Julius Dietzsch acquires the castle together with its associated agricultural estate.

• 1770

  The south facade is redesigned in the incipient French classicist style under the Schmidberg family.

• 1649

  Field Marshal Ludwig von Schmidberg buys the village and castle of Lehrensteinsfeld.

• 1585

  The von Gemmingen family receives hunting rights in the Steinsfeld district; the castle likely reaches its present dimensions after this.

• 1540

  Philipp von Gemmingen begins the new construction of the castle.

• 1518

  Lehren and Steinsfeld pass to Philipp von Gemmingen in the inheritance division of Pleikard von Gemmingen.

• A castle site (Burgstall) at the location is mentioned; the Lords of Weinsberg permit Siegfried von Michelfeld to build a house there.

A historic Renaissance castle estate run as a family wine and fruit-growing business, positioned as an insider tip for connoisseurs and lovers.

• Estate wines

  Wines produced from the carefully replanted vineyards of the castle estate.

• Fruit

  Fruit growing continued by the Dietzsch-Doertenbach family.

1. 1Schloss Lehrensteinsfeldschloss-lehrensteinsfeld.de
2. 2Schloss Lehrensteinsfeldwikidata.org
3. 3Schloss Lehrensteinsfeldde.wikipedia.org