Alterheim - Schloss Eppishausen

Schloss Eppishausen is the name of a castle in Eppishausen in the municipality of Erlen, canton Thurgau, Switzerland.

The castle was first mentioned in documents in 1190. In 1405 it was destroyed by the Appenzellers, owners at that time were the lords of Helmsdorf and Bernhausen. In 1698 it was acquired by the Benedictine monastery of Muri. In the same year the St. Albans Chapel was rebuilt. Between 1760 and 1763 the castle was remodeled in the Baroque style.

From 1813 to 1837, Eppishausen Castle was owned by the Germanist and writer Joseph von Lassberg, who was assisted in its acquisition by Elisabeth zu Fürstenberg, who lived there with him for a time. Lassberg called himself Master Sepp von Eppishusen during this time and received many famous contemporaries in his unique library, including the poet Ludwig Uhland, the Germanists Jacob Grimm and Karl Lachmann, and the historians Johann Pupikofer and Johann Caspar Zellweger. During a visit, Werner von Haxthausen arranged Lassberg's marriage to Jenny, née Freiin Droste zu Hülshoff, whose twin daughters Hildegunde and Hildgarde were born at Eppishausen Castle in 1836. The poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff lived with them in 1835/36, during her so-called "Swiss year".

In the castle park, for example, she wrote her cycle of poems Der Säntis and the most eloquent of her letters with descriptions of the Alpine landscape. In other letters, she described her excursions into the surrounding area and visits to Count Thurn-Valsassina at Berg Castle TG. Due to political changes in Thurgau, Lassberg sold the castle in 1837 and acquired Meersburg Castle as her new residence.

From 1853, Colonel Salomon Hegner resided at Eppishausen Castle. In 1961, the Order of the Bonitas Dei Sisters acquired Eppishausen Castle as a motherhouse, founded in 1960 by Sr. Maria Paula Johanna Baur and dedicated to the care of the elderly and those in need of nursing care. Since 1972, the castle has been owned by the Eppishausen Castle Foundation. It is inhabited by the Catholic community of the Bonitas Dei Sisters and, since 2009, by members of the Missionary Community of Mary's Family.

Next to the castle is the retirement and nursing home Schloss Eppishausen, built by the Bonitas Dei Sisters in 1977, which has continued to be run according to Christian principles and with a charitable purpose since the Mariens family took over its sponsorship.