Schloss Schönau, Rottal, Medieval castle in Schönau, Germany

Schloss Schönau is a moated castle on an island in Schönau, Bavaria. Its seven-storey keep dates from the 20th century, while the gate tower and west wing preserve 16th-century fabric. Architect Gabriel von Seidl rebuilt the late Gothic castle from 1900 to 1903 as a Historicist villa, adding an east wing in a mix of Neo-Gothic and Neo-Renaissance styles.

The castle was founded in the 15th century by the Berghofer family, with its Hofmark status confirmed by Duke Albrecht IV in 1506. Between 1900 and 1903, architect Gabriel von Seidl transformed it into a villa in castle style while preserving its historic elements.

The castle grounds feature a park laid out by Carl von Effner in 1867, blending parkland design with native and exotic tree specimens such as sugar maples and Japanese larches. Visitors can walk through these carefully planted areas that surround the structure today.

The public has had access to the park since the 1930s, allowing visitors to explore pathways through both developed and natural areas around the site. Visitors can observe the architecture from outside and take in the surrounding grounds at a leisurely pace.

The seven-storey keep is not medieval: it was added around 1900 during Baron Riederer's rebuilding, when the late-Gothic castle was turned into a Historicist villa. The 16th-century fabric survives mainly in the gate tower and the west wing, both reworked in a romantic spirit.