{"id":100935,"date":"2025-10-27T09:13:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T08:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schloss.bindix.de\/castle\/schloss-hopferau-geschichte\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T20:44:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T19:44:06","slug":"history-of-the-castle","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/schloss-hopferau.com\/en\/castle\/history-of-the-castle\/","title":{"rendered":"History of the castle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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History of the castle<\/h1>\n

In the over 550 years since its construction, Schloss zu Hopferau has had a very eventful history. Built as a hunting castle by Knight Sigmund, it quickly gained a reputation as a hospitable and pleasant place to stay due to its comfort (compared to the nearby Hohenfreyberg Castle).<\/p>\n

Along with knights, princes and other members of the nobility, several famous historical figures are said to have stayed here. Due to its many prominent guests, since the middle of the 16th century Schloss zu Hopferau increasingly became a focal point of social life in the Allg\u00e4u region.<\/p>\n

The \u201cHopfer-Au\u201d estate was once owned by the Lords of Hohenegg zu Vils, who ceded it to the Lords of Freyberg in 1385.<\/p>\n

Following the division of the lordship between the brothers Wilhelm and Sigmund von Freyberg-Eisenberg, in 1467, the lordship of Hopferau was established.<\/p>\n

In 1468<\/span> The knight of Freyberg \u2013 Eisenberg, knight Sigmund, starts building Schloss zu Hopferau on the grounds its stands on today. In total, the castle was in Family hands until 1838<\/p>\n

Schloss zu Hopferau remained in the possession of the Hopferau line of the Freyberg-Eisenbergs, and the east wing was added around 1790.<\/p>\n

In 1838<\/span> The sisters Albertine and Pauline of Freyberg-Eisenberg to Wellingen who had changed the look of the castle with its new gothic fa\u00e7ade – with the help of Domenico Qualio – sell Schloss zu Hopferau to its first private owner, the post export business man Michael Kolb from F\u00fcssen.<\/p>\n

In 1839<\/span> The new owner of Schloss zu Hopferau is the Lord of Ponikau<\/p>\n

In 1910<\/span> Paul Segisser, a painter from the city of Karlsruhe, lives and works in the castle<\/p>\n

In 1933<\/span> Schloss zu Hopferau is without owner and its immediate neighbour, Otto Keller, is given the key to the castle.<\/p>\n

In 1937<\/span> Georg Halbich, a sculptor from Munich, buys the castle, which at that time is in desperate need of renovation.<\/p>\n

In 1946<\/span> Konrad Zuse, inventor of the first digital computer, is hiding from the Nazis with his family in Hopferau. He perfects the legendary Z4 in the then bakeries storage room next to Schloss zu Hopferau, which is the castles parking lot today and initiates the world\u2018s first commercial use of a digital computer.<\/p>\n

In 1979<\/span> The key of the castle goes to its new owner, Judith B\u00f6ser, granddaughter of Georg Halbich.<\/p>\n

In 1999<\/span> F\u00fcssen\u2019s culture club, head Heinz Deutschle, takes over the castle to safe it from complete shutdown.
\nThe castle is getting an allover face lift and is turned into a private art gallery.<\/p>\n

In 2001<\/span> For the first time since the castles renovation started, it opens its doors to the public once again.<\/p>\n

In 2005<\/span> A local business turns the castle into a place of fine dining, events and hotel under the watchful eye of Georg Kirchg\u00e4\u00dfner, at this time, director of the Schloss zu Hopferau.<\/p>\n

In 2011<\/span> Schloss zu Hopferau welcomes his new owner, the BERA GmbH of Schw\u00e4bisch Hall.<\/p>\n

The owner of the company Bernd H. Rath said once to his mother at the tender age of six \u201cIm gonna have a castle like this\u201d \u2013 as he stood in front of Neuschwanstein.<\/p>\n

True to the intent, he is the proud owner of the castle you are in right now, the castle has been slowly turned into a place of business and memories especially for whom which have tight the knot in its halls and gardens.<\/p>\n

Up to this day, Schloss zu Hopferau is known widely for its exclusive dining experience, its hospitality and place of rest for its guests from all over the world.<\/p>\n

In 2014<\/span> CEO Bernd H. Rath becomes official ambassador of the Ost\u00e4llgau in april.<\/p>\n

In 2016<\/span> Schloss zu Hopferau is classed oncemor after detailed and intensive check by the German hotel and restaurants association inc. (Dehoga) as a four-starhouse in august.<\/p>\n

In 2018<\/span> Schloss zu Hopferau becomes 550 years old<\/p>\n

In 2019<\/span> After extensive examination, the castle was incorporated in 2019 as a First Class Hotel in the circle of www.toptagungslocations.de and is entitled “Special Meeting and Event Location” 2019.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":100225,"parent":100931,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"History of Schloss zu Hopferau | Castle Heritage & Stories","_seopress_titles_desc":"Explore the rich history of Schloss zu Hopferau \u2014 from its medieval origins to modern restoration, with fascinating stories of architecture, owners and life in this Allg\u00e4u landmark.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-100935","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","5":"hentry","7":"post-count-1"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schloss-hopferau.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/100935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schloss-hopferau.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schloss-hopferau.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schloss-hopferau.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schloss-hopferau.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100935"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/schloss-hopferau.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/100935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101080,"href":"https:\/\/schloss-hopferau.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/100935\/revisions\/101080"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schloss-hopferau.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/100931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schloss-hopferau.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schloss-hopferau.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}