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 Though Albert's son Duke George the Bearded resided at the Albrechtsburg, it was soon superseded by Dresden Castle as the new seat of the Wettin Albertinian line.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

Ama Aza (9 months ago)
Gothic style, nice view of the city from above.

kevin mills (12 months ago)
This is an excellent castle. Situated at the top of the hill next to the cathedral. The rooms are simply breathtaking, lots of information to read and if you do read it all you could be here a couple of hours. A good quality cafe Nd toilets also on site

Vinash Singh (12 months ago)
Took a evening walk from my hotel across to the castle! Stunning views. I was late so i didn't get a chance to see inside.

Małgorzata Kopyra (13 months ago)
Lovely castle with beautiful interiors and impressive staircase. A bit too much info at the upper floors.

Najia Ahmadi (18 months ago)
In a small iPad that they provide with the normal tickets, you can see a preview of the halls in the different historical moments. Beautiful castle. The staff are also friendly. Unfortunately taking photos from inside the castle costs extra 2 euros.

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