Schlössle Rietenau: A Former Manor House in Germany
Site at a Glance
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Duchy of Württemberg, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Manor House
On this page4 sections
History
Abbey Ownership and the Bathhouse
Schlössle Rietenau is a former small manor house in Rietenau, now part of Aspach in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the early twelfth century, Rietenau belonged to Hirsau Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in southwestern Germany. After financial difficulties arose at the abbey in the thirteenth century, it sold the village in 1262 to the Dominican nuns’ convent at Mariental in Steinheim an der Murr.
During the fifteenth century, the convent established a bathhouse in Rietenau. In 1524, it sold the bathing establishment to Michael Sattler, a citizen of Waiblingen, and Konrad Minner the Elder, mayor of Kornwestheim. The bathing business expanded considerably under the Minner family.
The Minner Family and the House
The Minner family had peasant origins but became one of the wealthiest lineages in the Kornwestheim area. Its patriarch, Jerg Minner, died in Kornwestheim in 1599. His estate included a farm, five fiefs (land held under obligations to a superior), and 69,182 gulden and 44 kreuzer, historical German currency units, in cash.
Schlössle Rietenau was first mentioned in 1593 and was probably built by Konrad Minner the Younger (1533–1597). It is described as the oldest house in Rietenau.
Remains
The former manor house is a stately timber-framed building set on a stone plinth.
