Schloss Wachendorf, Medieval château in Starzach, Germany.

Schloss Wachendorf consists of an old and a new castle of the Barons von Ow-Wachendorf, standing north and west of Schlossstraße in the centre of Wachendorf, next to large barns, outbuildings, the church and the rectory. A broad castle garden extends west of the buildings.

Schloss Wachendorf lies in Wachendorf, now part of Starzach in Baden-Württemberg, not Bavaria. The von Ow family was raised to the imperial baronial rank by Emperor Leopold I in 1681, and the estate remained in their hands. In 1747 the landowner Joseph Otto Freiherr von Ow issued the local Fleckenordnung, and the family held blood jurisdiction, exercised in 1787 when Johann Reinhard was executed by the sword on the estate.

The castle shows how German noble estates mixed defensive features with comfortable living spaces. You can see this blend in the thick walls and spacious rooms that still stand today.

Schloss Wachendorf is privately owned by the von Ow-Wachendorf family and as a rule cannot be visited by the public. Only on special occasions do the owners admit small groups. The complex stands in the middle of Wachendorf, north and west of Schlossstraße, next to large barns, outbuildings, the church and the rectory.

On the castle grounds a prison cell survives from the time when the lords of Ow-Wachendorf held blood jurisdiction, the right over life and death granted with their elevation to imperial barons in 1681. A private museum inside holds archaeological finds from family excavations, ranging from the Stone Age to the early modern period.