(hip shot!)
The first The owner was Hamann Echter, vizedom of Aschaffenburg.
The Echter family originates from the Odenwald region.
Only the round tower, remains from the 15th century. The following generations
changed the defense structures to a typical manor-house, mainly built in
the Renaissance style. Today's fundamental appearance is the result of reconstruction
done between 1551 and 1569 by Peter Echter of Mespelbrunn and his wife, Gertrud of Adelsheim.
The most famous member of the family was Julius Echter, prince bishop of Würzburg.
In 1648, the last member of the family, Maria Ottilia, Echterin of Mespelbrunn, married Philipp
Ludwig of Ingelheim, member of a family of barons, later made counts of Ingelheim.
Today the castle is the property of the family of the counts of Ingelheim who still live in one
wing of the castle.
The lower portraits show Albrecht von Ingelheim and his wife Hedwig.
The present owner is their oldest daughter Marie Antoinette Countess von Ingelheim,
named Echterin von und zu Mespelbrunn, Freifrau von Geyr von Schweppenburg.