Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a castle surrounded by a moat. Unfortunately, she could not leave the castle because there was no bridge to cross the moat. But a brave prince set out to rescue the princess. He built a stone bridge and freed the princess from her castle walls. From then on, they lived in the castle, which became accessible to everyone thanks to the bridge, and if they haven’t died, they are still living there today. Such a magnificent castle stands in Kirchhausen, a district of Heilbronn. The castle was once surrounded by water. The castle, which is still magnificent today with its two-story, two-winged structure, was built between 1570 and 1576 by Heinrich von Bobenhausen, a Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. It was built on the site of an old castle. The stonemason’s marks in the keystone of the archway still remind us of this today. I crossed a stone bridge to reach the inner courtyard of the castle. The mighty lion heads adorning the embrasures on the right and left were impressive. The castle courtyard has a beautiful portal with a volute cornice decorated with figures and coats of arms and dated 1749. I discovered that the side wing of the castle in the courtyard has a columned entrance. The four towers at the corners of the castle with their slate-covered conical roofs served defensive purposes. Later, they were used as a place of detention and sleeping quarters for traveling craftsmen. I marveled at the administrative building, which is the oldest part of the castle. In the last century, it was used as a school and town hall. It was renovated in 1965 and is now the seat of the Kirchhausen municipal office. I lingered in the castle courtyard for quite a while and felt like a princess. As the saying goes, “Princess is not a title. Princess is an attitude toward life!”
