Schloss Hardt, Château in Großaitingen-Hardt, Bavaria, Germany

Schloss Hardt is a two-story manor house in Großaitingen-Hardt with a steep gable roof and a small clock tower topped with an onion-shaped roof. The building is surrounded by a wall with towers and has rectangular windows framed by stone bands on the ground floor, giving it a simple, functional appearance.

The core of Schloss Hardt probably dates to 1494 and is attributed to Heinrich Dachs. In 1691 Christian Freiherr von Zech bought it, and in 1760 it passed to the monastery of St. Ulrich and Afra. After a fire, Abbot Joseph Maria Langenmantel von Westheim had it rebuilt with its chapel as a summer residence in 1769, but sold the indebted estate in 1777. A February 1946 fire destroyed the chapel; the house was rebuilt on two storeys without it.

The estate is named after Hardt, the Großaitingen district where it stands. The Lotzbeck family, owners since 1827, ran a branch of their Karlsruhe snuff factory Gebrüder Lotzbeck in Augsburg. In the 1950s they had architect Helmut von Werz build a small shingle-roofed round chapel in the park, recalling the destroyed St. Anna chapel.

The castle is private property and can only be viewed from outside; the buildings themselves are not open to visitors. It is advisable to respect the privacy of the owners and admire the site during walks in the surrounding area.

The round chapel in the park is shingle-roofed and was built in the 1950s by architect Helmut von Werz on behalf of the Lotzbeck family, replacing the St. Anna chapel destroyed in the February 1946 fire. It stands east of the castle wall.