Schloss Neuburg (Bayern)

Schloss Neuburg is a palace situated in Neuburg an der Donau, Upper Bavaria, Germany. Serving as the residence of the principality of Pfalz-Neuburg, founded in 1505, the complex is among the most significant Renaissance palace constructions of the first half of the sixteenth century in Germany. The four mighty wings enclose an arcaded courtyard built on the site of a late Gothic ducal castle. Today, the palace functions as a museum complex, housing the State Gallery of Flemish Baroque Painting, a historical museum dedicated to the principality of Pfalz-Neuburg, and a branch of the State Archaeological Collection, alongside its original architectural spaces.

An original castle on the city hill was constructed in the early Middle Ages by the Agilolfings and acquired by the Wittelsbach dukes of Bavaria in 1247. Following the Landshut War of Succession in 1505, the duchy of Pfalz-Neuburg was established with Neuburg as its residence city. When Count Palatine Otto Henry began his rule in 1522, he found a medieval fortified castle unsuited for a modern court. From 1527, he ordered its redesign into a Renaissance palace, constructing three demanding tracts starting around 1530. Due to Otto Henry's financial difficulties and bankruptcy in 1544, construction of the west wing prolonged into the 1550s. His cousin and successor, Wolfgang of Zweibrucken, commissioned the Dutch master Hans Schroer to decorate the courtyard facade with sgraffito from 1560 to 1562. In 1664 to 1668, Count Palatine Philip William constructed the Baroque east wing between massive round towers, establishing one of the first Baroque residences. The principality eventually became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1806.

The palace encompasses several distinct museum collections. The main floor of the Baroque east wing is dedicated to the art and history of the principality of Pfalz-Neuburg, displaying around 550 artworks, including portraits, valuable tapestries, weapons, furniture, and precious craftwork that illustrate the region's history from 1505 to the First World War. The third floor of the east wing features sacred art from the Counter-Reformation period and religious folk art. The west wing houses the State Gallery of Flemish Baroque Painting, a branch museum of the Bavarian State Picture Collection. Additionally, a branch of the State Archaeological Collection was historically located on the second floor of the Philipp-Wilhelm-Bau, though it is currently closed.

The State Gallery of Flemish Baroque Painting holds numerous works by masters such as Peter Paul Rubens, Anthonis van Dyck, and Jan Brueghel. Among the most precious treasures in the historical collection are ecclesiastical textiles from the Neuburg Ursuline Monastery, which was founded by Elector Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz in 1698. Sumptuous sacred vestments and important altar antependia with biblical scenes were embroidered in silk, silver, and gold by the Ursulines in the eighteenth century and are of outstanding artistic quality. The historical exhibition also retains tapestries from Count Palatine Otto Henry's famous art collection.

The palace architecture spans from late medieval foundations to early Baroque expansions. The north wing, constructed between 1534 and 1538, originally featured an open terrace across its entire roof area, reflecting contemporary ideas about imperial Roman palaces, though it received a saddle roof with volute gables around 1590. The Knights' Hall in the north building was furnished in 1575 by Hans Pihel with a coffered ceiling and wall panels from rotating timber, both of which remain original. The east wing, rebuilt between 1665 and 1670 by Philip William, contains a Baroque grotto on the ground floor of its northern round tower. The most architecturally and historically significant space is the castle chapel in the west wing, constructed beginning in 1537. Consecrated on April 25, 1543, by the Reformed theologian Andreas Osiander, it is the earliest Protestant church building designed for Protestant services. The Salzburg church painter Hans Bocksberger the Elder lavishly decorated the chapel with an explicitly Lutheran pictorial program in an antique Italian style starting in 1543, featuring ceiling vaults and galleries depicting scenes from the Old Testament, the Crucifixion, Baptism, and the Ascension of Christ. The chapel's 1540 altar features a five-part stone crucifixion group. Consecration crosses from the Catholic re-consecration of the space around 1614 have also been uncovered.

Schloss Neuburg is located at Residenzstrasse 2, 86633 Neuburg an der Donau, Germany. The museum is open from April to September between 9:00 and 18:00, and from October to March between 10:00 and 16:00, remaining closed on Mondays with specific holiday exceptions. Regular admission is 7 Euros, with a reduced rate of 6 Euros, while children and youths under 18 enter for free. A free web-based audio guide is available for visitors using their own smartphones and headphones, and a children's discovery booklet titled Tierisch gut! is offered. The branch museum of the State Archaeological Collection is closed until further notice due to renovation work, likely until 2028.