Wolfsberg Castle Ruins (Harz)

The Wolfsberg castle ruins are located on a hill in Wolfsberg in Saxony-Anhalt . Only a few remains of the foundations of the extensive medieval castle complex have survived.

history

It is believed that Wolfsberg Castle, like the neighboring Questenberg Castle to the southeast, was built by the Counts of Beichlingen-Rothenburg around the year 1300. Around 1309 it came into the possession of the Counts of Anhalt-Bernburg , who pledged the castle. The new lords of the castle were hostile to their neighbors, the Counts of Stolberg , and damaged their properties. After a legal ruling in his favor, Count Heinrich zu Stolberg resorted to self-help around 1320 and took Wolfsberg Castle. In order to secure the conquered property against the claims of the House of Anhalt, he gave it to Bishop Albrecht von Halberstadt as a fief and was officially enfeoffed by him on December 18, 1325, in addition to Erichsberg Castle, Wolfsberg Castle.

At the end of 1326, Wolfsberg Castle served as an object of atonement in the dispute over the Ebersberg and Erichsberg castles. In the later years it was pledged several times by the Counts of Stolberg, but always with the option of redemption. Wolfsberg and Erichsberg always remained a fiefdom of the Halberstadt Monastery .

The castle complex was damaged in the Peasants' War in 1525. It had already been dilapidated before, because in 1511 repairs to the roof and masonry were carried out on behalf of the Count von Stolberg, Volkmar von Morungen . From a report from Wolfsberg bailiff Michel Sultzpach to Count Wolfgang zu Stolberg from 1549 it emerges that the Wolfsberg house, barn and stables were “widder gebawet” for 2,000 guilders . This leaves open whether it meant the castle or the manor house of the Wolfsberg domain, which was built from 1524 onwards.

Wolfsberg was pledged several times in the early modern period and finally fell into ruin in the 18th century due to a lack of repair measures.

Coordinates: 51 ° 33 '5 "  N , 11 ° 5' 58.5"  E