Neuburg Castle, Neuburg an der Donau, Germany

The original Neuburg castle was built in the early Middle Ages by the Agilolfings noble family. This was acquired by the Wittelsbach dukes in 1247. When Count Palatine Otto Henry began his rule in Palatinate-Neuburg in 1522, he found a medieval fortified castle in his residence city of Neuburg, which, unlike similar than other royal residences was still not adjusted for the demands of a modern royal court. So from 1527 he ordered to re-design the castle into a Renaissance palace and to expand the artistic quality and condition to one of the most important palaces of the first half of the 16th Century in Germany. From 1537 an additional west wing was added which also includes the chapel. With his conversion to the Lutheran doctrine in 1541 the Palatine Chapel was decorated with excellent facilities, the antique-style Italian picture program painted in 1543 has been obtained. The chapel was decorated with famous frescoes by the Salzburg church painter Hans Bocksberger the Elder. The chapel is the oldest Protestant church in Bavaria. Because of the financial difficulties and bankruptcy of Otto Henry in 1544, the construction of the west wing took a long time.

Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, who succeeded his cousin Otto Henry in the Duchy of Palatinate-Neuburg, ordered in 1562 to decorate the west wing facing the courtyard with elaborate Sgraffito decorations. The Knights' Hall (the lower panel room in north building) was provided in 1575 by Hans Pihel with a coffered ceiling and wall panels from a rotating timber, both of which are original. The impressive east wing was rebuilt in 1665 by Philip William, Elector Palatine in the Baroque style and complemented with two round towers.

Today the castle houses a gallery of baroque paintings, the museum is under supervision of the Bavarian State Picture Collection.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Aleksandra Jeż (3 months ago)
Neuburg is very beautiful place, amazing castle and view. Cute bar and restaurant near Donau, friendly people, very clean.

Алина Лебедева (4 months ago)
Spectacular locations with stunning architecture

Lindsey A. Thomson (5 months ago)
For Protestants this is a must see castle, as it contains within its walls the first (newly built) church established for Protestantism (1543)!! Built by the Count Palantine Otto Henry, the church is full of biblical frescoes and the inside courtyard of this renaissance castle is adorned with etchings of biblical scenes. It was a very important duchy at the time. This castle is overlooked by a lot of tourists, who may be attracted to the bigger, disney like castles. However, this renaissance castle is full of history, massive tapestries from the 1500s, and priceless artwork.

Rosanna Keet (6 months ago)
Beautiful place unfortunately they don't take Visa and the staff don't speak English so we didn't go inside as we where a little strapped for time.

alexander nexxuss (11 months ago)
Its nice here..the castle..the river..peaceful place to spend in the weekend....

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The Church of St Eustace was built between 1532-1632. St Eustace"s is considered a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture. The church’s reputation was strong enough of the time for it to be chosen as the location for a young Louis XIV to receive communion. Mozart also chose the sanctuary as the location for his mother’s funeral. Among those baptised here as children were Richelieu, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, future Madame de Pompadour and Molière, who was also married here in the 17th century. The last rites for Anne of Austria, Turenne and Mirabeau were pronounced within its walls. Marie de Gournay is buried there.

The origins of Saint Eustache date back to 13th century. The church became a parish church in 1223, thanks to a man named Jean Alais who achieved this by taxing the baskets of fish sold nearby, as granted by King Philip Augustus. To thank such divine generosity, Alais constructed a chapel dedicated to Sainte-Agnès, a Roman martyr. The construction of the current church began in 1532, the work not being finally completed until 1637. The name of the church refers to Saint Eustace, a Roman general of the second century AD who was burned, along with his family, for converting to Christianity, and it is believed that it was the transfer of a relic of Saint Eustache from the Abbey to Saint-Denis to the Church of Saint Eustache which resulted in its naming. Jeanne Baptiste d"Albert de Luynes was baptised here.

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The church is an example of a Gothic structure clothed in Renaissance detail. The church is relatively short in length at 105m, but its interior is 33.45m high to the vaulting. At the main façade, the left tower has been completed in Renaissance style, while the right tower remains a stump. The front and rear aspects provide a remarkable contrast between the comparatively sober classical front and the exuberant rear, which integrates Gothic forms and organization with Classical details. The L"écoute sculpture by Henri de Miller appears outside the church, to the south. A Keith Haring sculpture stands in a chapel of the church.

The Chapel of the Virgin was built in 1640 and restored from 1801 to 1804. It was inaugurated by Pius VII on the 22nd of December, 1804 when he came to Paris for the coronation of Napoleon. The apse chapel, with a ribbed cul-de-four vault, has at its centre a sculpture of the Virgin and Child of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle that the painter Thomas Couture highlighted by three large paintings.

With 8,000 pipes, the organ is reputed to be the largest pipe organ in France, surpassing the organs of Saint Sulpice and Notre Dame de Paris. The organ originally constructed by P.-A. Ducroquet was powerful enough for the premiere of Hector Berlioz" titanic Te Deum to be performed at St-Eustache in 1855.

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