Confessions of a Castleholic

Sometimes you have to get lucky in life - and I definitely had that extra bit of luck when I stopped by at Schloss Rüdenhausen on the way back from Schloss Weissenstein . Usually you can only catch a glimpse of the home of the Fürst of Castell-Rüdenhausen from the street. However, the day I went there, there was an autumn market with local produce happening in the park and so I got a bit closer than usual as it was open to the public that day. Schloss Rüdenhausen  is located in a small village of the same name near Würzburg in Bavaria. Its castle was firstly mentioned in 1258 as a property of the Castell family. The original moated castle was likely erected during the 11th century. Following the division of family assets between different branches towards the end of the 13th century, Rüdenhausen was given as a fiefdom to different noble families including the Seckendorff zu Rödelsee, Fuchs von Dornheim and Gnottstadt families. In 1533, the castle again came into ...