Mosbach

      Castles and Palaces

Mosbach is situated on the southern foothills of the Odenwald and is the cultural and economic centre of the Neckar-Odenwald region. Already 400 years ago Mathaeus Merian wrote in his "Topographia Franconiae" about a "fine, well-built city". This impression is still conveyed to the visitor today. The main street in the historic old town is a unique parade of half-timbered houses: pointed and wide gables, centuries-old wooden constructions in shades of grey, black and red form a closed backdrop. The.... [More about Mosbach]

Mosbach - Palace.

Mosbacher Schloss

Mosbach Palace is located at the edge of the Old Town. That it gives a romantic impression with its bay windows, framework and wide gables is due to a fundamental reconstruction at the end of the 19th century. The palace today is privately owned and not open to visitors.

Its origins as a fortified castle date presumably back to the High Middle Ages. Palatine Otto I., who was born in 1390 as the youngest son of King Ruprecht, made Mosbach his residence in the year 1410. He, as well as his son Otto II., permitted from 1439 on to enlarge the residence considerably, although far from pleasant. Repeatedly the palace served as a refuge from disease for the electors of Heidelberg, as Mosbach was situated off the main roads. The original shape of the palace can hardly be imagined today. After 1645 the facility decayed more and more. Today's buildings rose primarily in the year 1898 under the owner at that time, merchant Montigel, who built a picturesque dwelling instead of the Old Palace.

 

 

Mosbacher Schloss
Tourist-Information
Marktplatz 4
74821 Mosbach
Telefon +49 (0) 6261 9188-0
Telefax +49 (0) 6261 9188-15
tourist.info@mosbach.de
www.mosbach.de

Mosbach - Temple house (c) city of Mosbach.
Mosbach - Temple house (c) Thomas Kottal.

Tempelhaus

The temple house in the Neckarelz district is the oldest preserved building in Mosbach and the only Johanniterburg castle in Baden-Württemberg that has been preserved in its authentic form. The former moated castle looks back on at least 700 years of history: the earliest mention of it can be found in a document dated June 11, 1300, according to which the Johanniter had their headquarters in this building. A gravestone inside also names the Johanniter priest Conradus as the “founder of this house.” 

In fact, the building is probably even older, with construction believed to date back to the 12th to 13th century. It was probably originally a residential tower from the Staufer period, which was initially taken over by the Johanniter; then passed into the possession of Engelhart von Hirschhorn in 1350. 

Over the centuries, the temple house underwent numerous uses, conversions, and changes of ownership. In 1737, it became the parish church of the Catholic parish of Neckarelz,  which still owns it today and uses it particularly for weddings. 

The mighty walls on the west and north sides, the humpback blocks at the corners, the stair tower with the original entrance above today's tower entrance, the slit windows of the basement, and a mighty corbel stone high up in the north wall as a relic of a former balcony are still visible from the former moated castle. The current surrounding wall around the forecourt can still be seen as the remains of a mighty wall around the castle courtyard. The moat, which was once filled with water, is also a reminder of this period.

Tempelhaus
Seelsorgeeinheit Mosbach-Elz-Neckar
Johannitergasse 2
74821 Mosbach
Telefon Tel.: 06261-2423
Telefax  Fax: 06261-893816
st.marien@kath-mose.de