The Willibaldsburg is a spur castle, built around the year 1353, in Eichstätt in Upper Bavaria. Until the middle of the 18th century, it was the representative castle and seat of Eichstätt's prince-bishops.
Location
This fortified palace lies west of the Old Town on an elongated hill ridge, the Willibaldsberg at an elevation of 464 m above sea level, overlooking the Altmühl valley, the eastern portion being referred to as the Frauenberg. To the east across the valley lies the cathedral city of Eichstätt, and on the western side of the valley loop, Marienstein. Its total length is about 420 metres and it is naturally well protected thanks to this location. The Altmühl river here forms a sharp bend which, due to the resulting ridge was an ideal spot for the medieval castle and later fortress. It derives its name from the first bishop Willibald von Eichstätt (c. 700 – c.787). The castle and city lie within the Altmühl Valley Nature Park in the cultural region of Franconia.
History
Beginnings
The first fortifications on the castle hill are mentioned as early as 1070. Under Bishop Berthold von Nürnburg, also known as Berthold von Zollern (1355-1365), expansion into a fortified residence for the bishops of Eichstätt began around 1355, the old bishopric being in the city next to the cathedral. This High Medieval edifice, which lay on the western spur of the hill was probably a large stone house, a tower and a chapel, protected by surrounding curtain walls and moats. After the Counts of Hirschberg died out in 1305, the bishops had to organize the military security of the diocese themselves. The cathedral chapter initially opposed the expansion plans because of the high costs, but the bishop was able to prevail.
Bishop Frederick IV of Oettingen (1383-1415) strengthened the fortifications by building a Zwinger kennel and had an "aestuarium magnum aestivale" built. This is likely to have been a hall building, a summer house, as seen in other castles of this time.
Middle Ages and Renaissance
Under the bishops Albrecht II von Hohenrechberg (1429-1445) and Martin von Schaumberg (1560-1590), the castle vestment was expanded and strengthened. Within 50 years, the Willibaldsburg underwent a major transformation from a late mediaeval castle through a stately fortified Counter-Reformation edifice under Schaumberg, to a late Renaissance summer palace under Bishop Johann Konrad von Gemmingen (1595–1612). Schaumberg made major changes to the front of the eastern side, creating an extensive structure (the Schaumbergbau) with three wings out of the old curtain wall, which was now closed to the exterior. This prestigious residential building shaped the appearance of the castle, together with the expansion of the late Renaissance, up to the 19th century, although weapons continued to be stored in the basement.
Gemmingenbau
After the short reign of Bishop Caspar von Seckendorff (1590–1595), Gemmingen added, among other things, a famous botanical garden, the Eichstätter Garten. The florilegium commissioned by the bishop describing the plants in this garden, the Hortus Eystettensis produced by the garden's curator, Basilius Besler in 1613 is considered one of the most important works of its type.
Also under Gemmingen, from 1609, the construction of a representative Renaissance castle based on the Italian model began. The old central building on the western spur was thus transformed. The Augsburg master builder Elias Holl provided the plans for this. The new south wing (1611) towered high over the mountainous crags. Together with Holl's Augsburg town hall, even in its reduced form, the palace is one of the most important works of the German Renaissance, described as "the perfct picture of one of the most beautiful princely residences in Germany at that time, as well as being an important fortress". Gemmingen's vision consisted of a lavishly furnished castle, with treasure vaults below decorated with illustrations of plants and figures bedecked with plants, which with the gardens created a summer residence in the Italian style, not known in Germany at that time.