A Generous Donation

With the deed of donation dated 14 November 1955, Count Karl von Luxburg gifted the castle and its furnishings to the district of Lower Franconia, along with the mill and the forest and meadow properties. His wife, Countess Carola, as well as Count Karl's brothers, Count August-Friedrich (1871-1956) and Count Heinrich (1874-1960), along with his nephew Count Hermann-Friedrich, waived their inheritance claims.

Count Karl and Countess Carola had no children of their own. As the von Luxburg family aimed to preserve the castle and its collections for future generations and make them accessible to the public, they decided to donate the castle, which was completed in 1955. In a "Pro-Memoria on the Future of Aschach Castle" attached to the deed, Count Karl outlined his wishes for the future of the castle, which had served as a summer residence for the von Luxburg family for two generations.

He had already made preparations a few years earlier by compiling descriptions of his collection of East Asian objects in a notebook. He also established contact with Prof. Dr. Max Hermann von Freeden (1913-2001), the director of the Main-Franconian Museum in Würzburg (now the Museum für Franken). Under his direction, the Count Luxburg Museum was opened in 1957, a year after Count Karl's death. Countess Carola remained associated with Aschach Castle until her death in 1968 and spent the summer months there.

Following a four-year redesign, the Graf Luxburg Museum was reopened in 2020.