Nestled in the grape vines above the town of Meersburg lies the Fürstenhäuschen (Prince's Little House). Still today nothing obscures the fabulous panorama composed of Lake Constance and the Alps lying behind it. This view may have been one of the reasons why the canon of Konstanz, Jacob Fugger of Kirchberg and Weißenhorn, later Prince Bishop, had a garden house built here outside of Meersburg in 1600.
As there was no place for grand garden complexes in the town of Meerburg, gardens were frequently laid out outside the town. And for a stay in these gardens a domicile was required that both provided protection from the weather and offered comfort. The garden houses erected at that time were not intended as residences, but they were provided with cozy furnishings. They often assumed the task of a small country house in their claim to luxury and their decoration and were used as a private retreat and for receiving close friends and the like.
The Prince Bishops used the building, meanwhile called the "Fütstenhäusle", until the bishopric of Konstanz was abolished in 1802. With Secularization it was transferred to the possessions of the Grand Duchy of Baden and administrated by the priests' seminary fund. In November 1843 it was put up for auction and Annette of Droste-Hülshoff took advantage of the opportunity to purchase it. She had already lost her heart to Lake Constance at that time.
She paid the price for the property including its vineyards high above Meersburg, 700 Gilders, from her fee for the complete edition of her poems. Here in her "pretty refuge" the poetess found a certain independence from her family and, although she never quite lived in the house, she became attached to this "Tuskulum". She wrote to a friend, "You shall see, I will make a small paradise out of this little nest (...) I have no well, but a little bleaching spot and not a hundred steps from the house a spring that flows winter and summer. I tell you, it is delightful. (...) The citizens of Meersburg look upon this "Fürstenhäuschen" as a precious pearl - it is almost too much for me and enchanting, and as I can watch the entire area from above - every citizen who steps onto the street or even simply to the window, every farmer who steps into his courtyard - I feel like the student from Salamanca, for whom the limping devil has raised the roofs of the houses, and I almost feel sinful".
The "Fürstenhäusle" had five rooms. On the ground floor were the salon and a small kitchen. From there a spiral staircase and a trapdoor lead to the upper floor, the "Dachshöhle" (Badger's lair). A living room/study and a very small bedroom were located here near the entrance.
In the early 20th century it was considerably expanded with an extension at the rear. Since 1923 the unaltered front section has housed a museum which commemorates the poetess.