Mespelbrunn Castle

The moated Mespelbrunn Castle is situated in a remote tributary valley of the Spessart between Frankfurt am Main and Würzburg. Its history goes back to the early 15th century. In 1412 the Prince Elector Archbishop of Mainz, Johann II von Nassau, bestowed a house upon his master forester Hamann Echter as a fief. At first it was only a house without any fortifications. Some years later his son rebuilt this house with towers, fortified walls and a moat, as it was situated near an unexploited forest and therefore was insecure.

In the course of the 15th and 16th centuries the fortified building was gradually transformed into a small Renaissance castle. Most of the rebuilding which now characterizes the castle was done in the 16th century by Peter Echter from Mespelbrunn. Among his descendants was Julius Echter, who founded the Julius Hospital and Würzburg University as Prince Bishop of Würzburg. The family died out during the Thirty Years War. The last female member of the family was married in 1648 into the family of the Barons of Ingelheim, who, since 1665, have used both family names and both family coats of arms and were later made Counts of Ingelheim.

Thanks to its remote location, Mespelbrunn Castle was saved from destruction during wartime and it is therefore still in its original condition. The castle has three wings and is still privately owned by the family of the Counts of Ingelheim. They inhabit the southern and eastern wings of the castle. Since the 1920s, the northern wing can be visited between Good Friday and All Saints’ Day. The romantic moated castle is visited by about 100,000 people every year.

The neighbouring village Neudorf adopted the name of the moated castle in 1938 and after a local government reform in 1972 it was merged with the neighbouring village Hennenthal to make the Community of Mespelbrunn. Nowadays tourism is one of the most important sources of income in the region.

For more than 25 years the Mespelbrunn Spessart Theatre has used this idyllic castle as the backdrop for the open-air theatre. Of course, from time to time the play “The Spessart Inn” by Wilhelm Hauff is performed. It was here, too, that in 1957 the film of the same name was made, starring the actress Liselotte Pulver. In 1977 the castle was depicted on the 70-pfennig postage stamp in a series of “Deutsche Post” postage stamps.