Schloss Ehestetten

Ehestetten (Hayingen), The county of Reutlingen

The first person to be mentioned and naming himself after Schloss Ehestetten was Otto of Ehestetten in 1273. After 1295, Swigger XIV of Gundelfingen and his sons named themselves after Ehestetten. In 1364, Swigger XX sold Ehestetten to the knight Henry Speth of Steingebronn. Only a short amount of time later, a ruin is mentioned north of the church in descriptions of the Oberamt Münsingen. It is likely, that already around 1399, when the Ehestetten line of the Gundelfingen family died out, Schloss Ehestetten was nothing more than a medieval castle tower. Probably at the end of the 14th century, but no later than the beginning of the 15th century, the Speth family built themselves a new home close to Schloss Ehestetten, which they expanded in 1495. Later, the Speth family moved to Zwiefaltendorf and their buildings was then used by Württemberg. In 1885, the castle was inherited by the Barons of Bodman, who used Schloss Ehestetten as an office for their forest administration. In 1932, it came into private ownership. Another change of ownership was administered in 1976. From 1978 to 1987 the castle and its fortifications were renovated and restored.