English Castle

After yesterday's trip to Bavaria's ocean, today a local English Castle was on the programme - The Mindelburg - at Mindelheim our county capital.

On a hill above the town a castle was first built between 1150-1200 but destroyed in 1305 and then 1370, the next one was built and in 1467 taken over by the famous Frundsberg family of soldiers and warriors of the Habsburgs, the most famous of whom was George von Frundsberg (1473-1528) after whom a medieval festival week is staged every two years in the town, with people coming from all of Europe to set up medieval camps.

In 1704 the castle was confiscated after yet another battle in the War of the Spanish Succession, and on 18 November 1705, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough was made Prince of Mindelheim by Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor. Marlborough visited his kingdom in 1713, but the following year lost it through the Treaty of Utrecht.

Mindelheim is one of the few Bavarian Towns to be twinned with a UK town - East Grinstead.