Schloss Hirrlingen

Hirrlingen, Germany, Germany

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Schloss Hirrlingen is one of the few nearly unchanged rural Renaissance castles remaining in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, built between 1557 and 1558 by Freiherr Georg VII. von Ow (1517–1575) in the village of Hirrlingen, about 15 kilometers southwest of Tübingen.

The three-story rectangular castle features a high pitched roof, two round towers on the north corners with defensive arrow slits on the ground floor that give it a fortress-like appearance, an octagonal stair tower centered on the courtyard facade, and a two-story oriel tower on the southeast corner displaying the builder's coat of arms.

Originally surrounded by protective water moats, only the castle pond toward the village remains today, while the surrounding outbuildings forming the castle courtyard also date mostly from the 16th century. The von Ow family line died out in 1709, the castle passed to Count Anton Ferdinand von Attems, and in 1821 the municipality purchased it; today it serves as Hirrlingen's town hall at Schlosshof 1, housing the village administration of the 3,125-resident municipality located above the Starzel valley.