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 Though Albert's son Duke George the Bearded resided at the Albrechtsburg, it was soon superseded by Dresden Castle as the new seat of the Wettin Albertinian line.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:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Vanitha Thangavelu (2 years 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 (2 years 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 (2 years ago)
Beautiful place! Get restaurant nearby with the best view from the city.

Mara Elena (2 years 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 (2 years ago)
The castle is closed but views from it are stunning.

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