Kuckuckstein Castle in Liebstadt in Saxony is located on a rocky outcrop above the Seidewitz river valley at a very favorable location for controlling the trade route from the Elbe valley via the Eastern Ore Mountains to Bohemia.
The castle was first mentioned in 1410 but it was probably built in the second half of the 13th century. It was destroyed during the Dohna feud (dispute between the burgraves of Dohna and the Meißen Margrave William I between 1385–1402). Reconstruction only began in 1453. The castle was built on the foundation walls of the old castle.
During the Thirty Years' War , like many German towns, Liebstadt was often raided by mercenaries. In 1643 the castle was stormed and looted by the Kaiserlich Hatzfeld mercenaries. During the possession of the von Birkholz (verifiable until 1741) the castle was extensively renovated in the Rococo style. In the following years the owners of the castle changed several times.
On September 9, 1813, Napoleon I stayed in the castle after watching the enemy retreat from the heights north of Liebstadt near Borna. His armed forces still had over 400,000 French who camped in and around the city.
Today the castle is in private ownership. Regular public access is therefore not possible. However, guided tours are possible by appointment, and it is also possible to enter the castle during the cultural events that occasionally take place here.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.