Tucked away in a small park with a lake in the center of the village of Daisbach in the Rhine-Neckar district of Baden-Württemberg, there are enchanting castle ruins. The remains show an unfinished two-story Baroque moated castle with a Renaissance stair tower from a previous castle. According to the State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments, the previous castle is said to have been built around 12000 and was sold in 1366, together with the village of Daisbach, by Kuntz von Massenbach to the Lords of Venningen. In the 15th century, it came into the possession of Hans von Rammung as a fief. After his death, Kunigunde von Rammung, the heiress of Daisbach, married the nobleman Albrecht V. Göler von Ravensburg in 1472, who married Katharina von Rammung after her death in 1474. In 1607, Emperor Rudolf II confirmed the von Göler family as owners of the castle complex. During the Thirty Years’ War, the castle was severely damaged by fire. It was not until 100 years later that Eberhard Ludwig von Göler began rebuilding it into a small Baroque castle. The alliance coat of arms of him and his wife Katharina Elisabetha Helwica above the castle courtyard passageway still reminds us of this today. However, only two years after construction began again, he died and the unfinished castle complex began to fall into disrepair. In 1844, even the temporary roof collapsed. Although a concrete ceiling was installed over the cellar in 1926, the castle had long since become a dilapidated ruin. For this reason, the Sinsheim district administration decided in 1957 to demolish the remaining walls, which were in danger of collapsing. However, the owner opposed this decision and was fined for doing so. In 1983, the town of Waibstadt purchased the castle ruins from Mr. Göler von Ravensburg. In the following years, an access road was built from the main road. Since 1991, the citizens’ initiative “Preservation of the Daisbach Castle Ruins” has been working to renovate the ruins under the patronage and documentation of the retired local mayor Richard Schmitt and under the planning and construction management of Uwe Frei. Between 1991 and 2000, the citizens’ initiative was able to save the castle ruins from decay through renovation measures, putting in over 10,000 hours of volunteer work. As a result, this cultural monument is now open to the public, allowing visitors to walk in the footsteps of the Middle Ages.
