Freudenstein Castle (German: Schloss Freudenstein) is located on the Schloßplatz[1] ("Castle Square") on the edge of the town centre of Freiberg in the German state of Saxony. Its history is closely linked to the House of Wettin. After several conversions the castle is now a stately home with four wings comprising these buildings: the Langes Haus, Neues Haus, Kirchenflügel, Großer Turm und Schmales Haus ("Long House", "New House", "Church Wing", "Great Tower" and "Narrow House").

History

After the discovery of silver in Christiansdorf, Margrave Otto II of Meissen had a castle built in 1168 to protect the silver mines. On 31 July 1312 the castle is first mentioned in a record as a Hus ("house"). In later documents it is described as an arx, Castrum, flos and Burg. The Freiburg castle is first referred to as "Freudenstein" in 1525. After 1505 Duke Henry the Pious mainly resided in Freiberg. During his reign, his sons, later the electors of Saxony, Moritz and Augustus, were born at the castle.

The construction of the new castle was begun in 1566 by master builder, Hans Irmisch, under the supervision of Rochus zu Lynar. Its completion in the Renaissance architectural style was finished in 1577. In Thirty Years' War, it formed part of the defensive system of the town of Freiberg, and was occasionally used as a military base. In 1762, in consequence of the Seven Years' War, the interior of the castle was completely wrecked.

When ownership of the property was taken over by the military treasury in 1784, the second major conversion of the Renaissance palace into a magazine was carried out. This involved a major change to the building structure. The Renaissance windows were replaced by small armoury windows. Inside, low armoury floors were built in a simple design. From 1800, it was partly rebuilt into a miners' granary (Bergmagazin). During the Napoleonic occupation in 1813, the castle was used as a hospital for 1,500 wounded.

With the transfer of legal ownership to the town of Freiberg in 1957, it served until 1979 as a granary. In 1973, a youth club opened in the basement. From 1980 to 1990, a heritage organization was based at the castle. In a return to its structural appearance in 1577, the facade of the New House was rebuilt in the Renaissance style under its direction. In 2004, ownership of the castle was given back to the town of Freiberg. Between 2005 and 2008 it was converted as the result of a Europe-wide competition under the direction of AFF Architects Berlin/Chemnitz. This saw the gutting of the Church Wing, in order to house the mining archives. The "terra mineralia" exhibition was housed in the adjacent Long House.

Schloss Freudenstein (Sachsen)

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The ruins of Frauenstein Castle (German: Burg Frauenstein) are located on a 680 metres (2,230 ft) high granite rock on the crest of the Eastern Ore Mountains near the town of Frauenstein in the district of Mittelsachsen.

History

The castle, which was first recorded by name in 1272, was built as a border fortification between the March of Meissen and Bohemia. It protected the trade routes and the silver mining industry. The original inner ward measured just 30 x 15 m and incorporated a tower house.

In the period that followed a second tower house was erected. This was linked to the existing tower. In the final years of the 13th century the great hall and castle chapel were built. The construction of the great curtain wall was carried out in the first half of the 14th century. The margrave enfeoffed the castle in 1329 together with its dominion to the burgraves of Meissen.

The parish of Frauenstein was granted town rights in 1411. In 1438 the Wettins largely destroyed the castle during a siege. The Margrave of Meissen then disputed the succession rights of the burgraves. The dispute had started when the Meinheringer line died out in 1426 and was taken over by the Vögte from the House of Plauen. The nobility of that house, the von Schönbergs, were given the castle in 1473. They had a palace (Schloss) built in the years 1585-1588 designed by the architect to the Elector, Hans Irmisch. On the completion of the palace, the castle remained unoccupied. Nevertheless, the chapel was renovated in 1615.

The last Schönberg at Frauenstein sold his estate in 1647 to the prince-elector, John George I. The palaces was converted, first to a judicial office (Gerichtsamt) and later into a forestry office (Forstrentamt) and district court (Amtsgericht).

In 1728 a fire destroyed a large part of the town of Frauenstein and affected both the castle and the palace very badly. Because the castle, unlike the palace, was not being used, it was not rebuilt.

Today the 13th century tower house, known as Dicker Merten and the 1½ m thick curtain wall remain standing. The remaining rooms include the cellar, kitchen, castle chapel, prison, two parlours and several vaults. Restoration work was carried out on the ruins in 1968, 1990 and 1992.

In 2007 an interest group was founded with the aim of keeping the castle accessible to the public and preventing it falling into private hands. From this group, the Society for the Preservation of Frauenstein Castle (Förderverein Burg Frauenstein e.V.) was founded in 2009.



Frauenstein Castle (Ore Mountains)

The hunting lodge of Augustusburg (German: Jagdschloss Augustusburg) was built from 1568 to 1572 above the town of the same name on a hill called the Schellenberg (516 m above sea level (NN)) on the northern edge of the Ore Mountains of Germany. The castle, which is visible from afar, is a local landmark. It lies about 12 kilometres east of the city of Chemnitz and about 21 kilometres southwest of Freiberg in the Free State of Saxony.

In building a new castle, Prince Elector Augustus wanted not just to create a prestigious palace for his hunting trips, but also to underline his leading position in Central Germany. The immediate occasion for its construction was his victory in the Grumbach Brawl (Grumbachsche Händel). By enforcing the imperial ban on his Ernestine rivals - John Frederick the Middle and outlawed knight, Wilhelm von Grumbach, who sought refuge with John Frederick - the Albertine elector, Augustus, was able secure his supremacy over the Ernestines. He was also given the Ämter of Weida, Ziegenrück and Arnshaugk, which belonged to what later became the district of Neustädter Kreis. Thanks to the thriving economy of the Electorate of Saxony under Moritz and Augustus, the necessary finance for the construction of the castle was available.

Background

Before the hunting lodge was built, an old castle owned by the von Schellenberg family was located on the same spot.

This had been built around 1210/30 and was granted in 1324 to the House of Wettin after the so-called Schellenberg Feud. It was further fortified in the late 14th century. For example, an outer wall (Zwingermauer) and a well and wellhouse were built. Between 1528 and 1547 the castle was severely damaged by fire and lightning. An illustration in the altar picture of the castle church could be of the Schellenburg at that time, but it is not clear.

For a long time the design of the palace was attributed to the master builder and mayor of Leipzig, Hieronymus Lotter. It is clear, however, that when Lotter was appointed, a finished model of the castle already existed. According to current thinking, he only had the role of chief architect, responsible for executing the completed design. The two plans made by him are based on the already finished wooden model and the annotated changes he proposed were mainly declined by the Elector. The Italian style stairs with their straight flights (instead of the usual spiral staircases) and details in the design of the roofs are assigned to his influence. The design of parts of the north portal and chapel of the hunting lodge are traceable to Erhardt van der Meer, Lotter's senior clerk of works. The first clerk of works during the construction was Paul Widemann until his death in 1568.

Current understanding is that it was most likely that the overall design was prepared at the court of Elector Augustus under the supervision of the architect, Hans Irmscher. Since there are gaps in the sources relating to the authorship of the designs of Augustusburg Castle, it has even been attributed to Augustus himself. What is clear is the Elector's great interest in matters concerning construction and architecture. His library contained many architectural documents and template books of architectural elements. The architecture of the castle does not match that of traditional palace buildings in the rest of Saxony. Rather, it may be assumed that the Elector took the inspiration for his creation from the theoretical documents in his library.

