Albrechtsburg Castle

Meißen, Germany

The Albrechtsburg is a Late Gothic castle that dominates the town centre of Meissen. It stands on a hill above the river Elbe, adjacent to the Meissen Cathedral.

By 929 King Henry I of Germany had finally subdued the Slavic Glomacze tribe and built a fortress within their settlement area, situated on a rock high above the Elbe river. This castle, called Misnia after a nearby creek, became the nucleus of the town and from 965 the residence of the Margraves of Meissen, who in 1423 acquired the Electorate of Saxony.

From 1464 Elector Ernest of Saxony ruled jointly with his younger brother Albert the Bold and both had the present-day castle erected from 1471 on. The masterpiece of court builder Arnold of Westphalia, it was constructed solely as a residence, not as a military fortress, the first German castle built for such a purpose. When the brothers divided the Wettin lands by the 1485 Treaty of Leipzig, the castle of Meissen fell to Albert. Though Albert's son Duke George the Bearded resided at the Albrechtsburg, it was soon superseded by Dresden Castle as the new seat of the Wettin Albertinian line.

In 1710 King Augustus II the Strong established the Königlich-Polnische und Kurfürstlich-Sächsische Porzellan-Manufaktur, which was the first European hard-paste porcelain manufacture, at the castle under the supervision of Johann Friedrich Böttger. Meissen porcelain was produced at the Albrechtsburg until manufacturing moved to its present location in 1863.

References:

Comments

Your name

Website (optional)


Address

Domplatz 13, Meißen, Germany
See all sites in Meißen

Details

Founded: 10th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in Germany
Historical period: Ottonian Dynasty (Germany)

More Information

en.wikipedia.org
www.albrechtsburg-meissen.de

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Meissen Cathedral (0 km)


Dresden Cathedral (22,4 km)
Frauenkirche (22,8 km)
Dresden Castle (22,4 km)
Zwinger Palace (22,2 km)
Semperoper (22,2 km)
Albertinum (22,9 km)
Pillnitz Castle (33 km)
Moritzburg Castle (14,5 km)
Dresden City Museum (23 km)

User Reviews

Vanitha Thangavelu (19 months ago)
We visit this place in first week of may. Very nice place. Worth to visit this place. Castle museum and architecture is good. But some work was going on during visit and I assume it will be stunning after all work. Also stairs available to climb up with beautiful city view.There are lots of restaurants and cafe around this place.
木本真澄 (20 months ago)
It is the oldest castle in Germany, which has nice view and interesting stories. I recommend going to Meisen factory with combined ticket.
Pedro Eguiguren (20 months ago)
Beautiful place! Get restaurant nearby with the best view from the city.
Mara Elena (20 months ago)
Wonderful place to go on a day trip! Very historical and just gorgeous. The restaurants and Cafe's are so beautiful and the view is just astonishing
Tatyana Golovina (21 months ago)
The castle is closed but views from it are stunning.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Most beautiful castles in Lithuania
Photo from Flickr, copyright oxfordblues84

Historic Site of the week

Luxembourg Palace

The famous Italian Medici family have given two queens to France: Catherine, the spouse of Henry II, and Marie, widow of Henry IV, who built the current Luxembourg palace. Maria di Medici had never been happy at the Louvre, still semi-medieval, where the fickle king, did not hesitate to receive his mistresses. The death of Henry IV, assassinated in 1610, left the way open for Marie's project. When she became regent, she was able to give special attention to the construction of an imposing modern residence that would be reminiscent of the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens in Florence, where she grew up. The development of the 25-hectare park, which was to serve as a jewel-case for the palace, began immediately.

The architect, Salomon de Brosse, began the work in 1615. Only 16 years later was the palace was completed. Palace of Luxembourg affords a transition between the Renaissance and the Classical period.

In 1750, the Director of the King's Buildings installed in the wing the first public art-gallery in France, in which French and foreign canvases of the royal collections are shown. The Count of Provence and future Louis XVIII, who was living in Petit Luxembourg, had this gallery closed in 1780: leaving to emigrate, he fled from the palace in June 1791.

During the French Revolution the palace was first abandoned and then moved as a national prison. After that it was the seat of the French Directory, and in 1799, the home of the Sénat conservateur and the first residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul of the French Republic. The old apartments of Maria di Medici were altered. The floor, which the 80 senators only occupied in 1804, was built in the middle of the present Conference Hall.

Beginning in 1835 the architect Alphonse de Gisors added a new garden wing parallel to the old corps de logis, replicating the look of the original 17th-century facade so precisely that it is difficult to distinguish at first glance the old from the new. The new senate chamber was located in what would have been the courtyard area in-between.

The new wing included a library (bibliothèque) with a cycle of paintings (1845–1847) by Eugène Delacroix. In the 1850s, at the request of Emperor Napoleon III, Gisors created the highly decorated Salle des Conférences, which influenced the nature of subsequent official interiors of the Second Empire, including those of the Palais Garnier.

During the German occupation of Paris (1940–1944), Hermann Göring took over the palace as the headquarters of the Luftwaffe in France, taking for himself a sumptuous suite of rooms to accommodate his visits to the French capital. Since 1958 the Luxembourg palace has been the seat of the French Senate of the Fifth Republic.

Map Top Sights Tags Historical Periods City Guides About Us Sign Up Upload new site
© 2020 SpottingHistory.com. All rights reserved.