Barockschloss Trippstadt

The construction of the castle as "Maison de la Campagne" began in 1764 according to the plans of the master builder Sigmund Jacob Haeckher (1726-1772) and was completed in 1764. The castle complex, serving as a summer residence, also included a park in the geometric Versailles style, surrounded by the still visible wall. The famous Palatine garden architect Friedrich L. von Sckell (1750-1823) was commissioned around 1780 to extend this park in the modern English style. This was intended to extend down to the Karlstal as a landscape park, but was only partially completed. A particular feature on the roof of the castle was the installation of the first lightning rod in the Palatinate by the Palatine court physicist Johann Jakob Hemmer (1737-1790).

As the French Revolutionary troops approached in 1793, the barons of Hacke had to abandon their small domain and retreat to Mannheim. During the subsequent battles, including those around Trippstadt, a wing of the castle building was heavily damaged and rendered uninhabitable in 1794. The entire left-bank area was annexed by the French troops in 1798, and the region around Trippstadt remained part of France until 1814. Baron Karl Theodor von Hacke was allowed to keep his private property, including the castle, but in 1803 he had to sell the entire estate.

In 1833, the Palatine entrepreneur and ironworks owner Ludwig von Gienanth acquired the ruined castle and the associated woodlands. The latter was important to him for charcoal production. He had little interest in the castle buildings, and the castle garden became overgrown. Soon he considered selling the castle, and in 1865 it was indeed sold to the Bavarian state for around one million gulden, including all accessories.

The further dates are as follows: 1865 establishment of a state forestry office. - 1888 restoration of the damaged west wing and the castle garden with the establishment of a forestry school for the training of forestry personnel. - 1915 closure of the school due to war reasons and reopening only after the Second World War (1939-1945) as the Palatine Forestry School (later state forestry school). In 1979, this school was also dissolved, and in 1984 the "Forestry Research Institute Rhineland-Palatinate" was founded in the castle. It still exists today as the "Research Institute for Forest Ecology and Forestry".

As the seat of the Research Institute for Forest Ecology and Forestry, the Baroque castle can only be viewed from the outside. A visit to the castle garden is particularly recommended.