Altenstein Castle

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Altenstein Castle was built in 1736 as a residential palace (country house) for the dukes of Meiningen and expanded after 1800 as a summer residence . The castle is located in a spacious park area, the Altensteiner Park , and together with the outbuildings it forms the Altenstein district of the spa town of Bad Liebenstein in the Wartburg district in Thuringia . The neighboring town of Steinbach is about one kilometer to the east and the historical location of Schweina is 1.2 kilometers to the south of the castle; it is about 2 kilometers to the town center of Bad Liebenstein.

General view of Altenstein Castle (2007)
West facade of the castle (2020)

story

Altenstein and Markgrafenstein Castles

The name Altenstein is reminiscent of the mighty medieval Altenstein Castle , which belonged to the Frankish family of knights von Stein (de Lapide). The location at the beginning of Schweinaer Straße, an old road through the Thuringian Forest , gave the castle strategic importance. The name Altenstein (de antiquo lapide), used for the first time in 1225 for the older castle complex and the associated Burggraviate Altenstein , known to the population as "Dornheckenamt", is still used, while the neighboring castle, the Neuenstein, is only rarely mentioned. In 1346, through the Lords of Frankenstein , the Altenstein came into the possession of the Landgraves of Thuringia, who also owned Neuenstein Castle.

The Burgmannen also included the von Haune family of knights, who were wealthy in the Salzunger area and whose demise took place in the 14th century, and their cousins, the Knights of Slune. In 1353, Heinrich von Slune was struck by lightning at Altenstein Castle, which the farmers of the surrounding villages interpreted as a judgment from God. But the knights continued their raids on merchants and villages up to the town of Meiningen and were accused by the Thuringian landgrave of breach of the peace. A punitive expedition by the landgraves, supported by the cities of Erfurt and Mühlhausen, ended the despotic rule of these robber barons in 1437.

When the reformer Martin Luther passed Altenstein Castle on May 4, 1521 on his journey home from the Reichstag in Worms, there was a castle already known as Altenstein Castle, but it still appeared to be medieval. Luther popularized the place when he was apparently kidnapped near Altenstein and then taken to Wartburg Castle for his safety .

Destruction in the Markgräfler war

Altenstein Castle and the Markgrafenstein (around 1500)
Album leaf Altenstein (by Rohbock )

During the Peasants' War, the Neuenstein was conquered and destroyed by rebellious farmers, while the Altenstein remained untouched. The lords of Wenckheim had apparently sided with the farmers. Thirty years later, the castle, which had long since become militarily outdated, became the scene of the Second Markgräfler War . In 1554, a marauding troop of mercenaries led by Albrecht Alcibiades von Ansbach attacked the castle, plundered and devastated the complex. Three years later, reconstruction began on a more modest scale and in the Renaissance style. As part of the Wenckheim inheritance, the Amt of Altenstein fell to the Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen in 1680 . The Altenstein went up in flames on March 27, 1733 as a result of an arson attack.

Reconstruction as a baroque country house

Duke Anton Ulrich of Saxe-Meiningen resided in Meiningen at Elisabethenburg Castle , which had been completed in 1692. In 1710, his predecessor, Duke Ernst Ludwig I, had a small hunting lodge built in Dreizigacker. In 1736, Anton Ulrich commissioned the Italian master builder Alessandro Rossini to design a simple, two-storey country house with a mansard roof. The duke did not want to compete with the wealthy Saxon chamberlain of Trier, who had built his Glücksbrunn Palace in 1703 just 800 meters from Altenstein on the north-eastern outskirts of Schweina.

The fire ruins of Altenstein Castle, which were demolished down to the basement, were chosen as the building site for the main building. Remains of the medieval keep still standing on the castle rock should not disturb the overall impression and were broken off except for a stump. Due to structural requirements, the sections of the southern castle wall with the mighty supporting walls had to be preserved. Their height was adjusted to the courtyard area and a terrace was created in front of the house on the south side. According to local tradition, the duke approved all the plans presented to him, but was surprised and disappointed by the result. A misunderstanding or a planning error is seen as the reason: the master builder built the castle "upside down", with the more magnificently decorated facade facing the mountain.

In addition to the main building, a building complex to the east was started for the management, court and accommodation of guests. The original part of the castle park is formed by borders and flower beds and the first pavilions that correspond to the taste of the time, as well as a network of paths and stairs cleverly integrated into the rocky landscape. In addition to hunting events and festivals, the castle also served as a meeting place with the neighboring royal houses and as a private retreat.

Conversion to summer residence

Southern cavalier's house and court marshal's office (left)

It was not until 1798 that repair work and partial conversion began again by Anton Ulrich's son, Georg I Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (1761-1803). The construction of the summer residence on the Altenstein and the design of the Altenstein Park as an English landscape garden continued until 1804. Famous names such as Hermann Fürst von Pückler-Muskau (1785-1871), his master student Carl Eduard Petzold (1815-1891) and Peter Joseph Lenné (1789-1866) are associated with the landscape garden. Even the old privy councilor Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is said to have contributed suggestions for the park. During this time, several staffage structures typical of the landscape garden were erected to enliven the park landscape, including the Knights' Chapel in 1799. From 1803 to 1804 the court marshal 's office , stables and orangery were built. Another stroke of luck for the landscape park was the Altenstein Cave , which was discovered in 1799 and was formerly also known as the Glücksbrunn Cave because of its location on the edge of the park near Glücksbrunn Palace . The Altenstein Cave is one of the few natural caves in Europe that was designed and used in the sense of an underground landscape garden (including a cave lake with a Greek temple, boat trips, illuminations, echo concerts) . Freund (1800–1882) erected.

On August 13, 1846, a large folk festival was held on the Altenstein for the 54th birthday of Queen Dowager Adelheid of Great Britain and Ireland (1792-1849). She was married to William of Clarence (1765-1837) from 1818 to 1837, who ascended the British throne as William IV of Great Britain and Ireland in 1830 for seven years. In the years 1846-1852 the Altensteiner Park was expanded and redesigned. On August 4, 1850, the famous German teacher Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel (1782–1852) organized a big festival on the Altenstein. In the years 1888-1889 the castle was renovated for the "theater duke", Duke George II of Saxe-Meiningen (1826-1914), who is considered to be the last major builder and patron of the castle and park in Altenstein. The conversion was carried out in the style of English late Renaissance country houses of the 16th century with Neo-Renaissance facades . The visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941) scheduled for August 11, 1889 was canceled by George II because the Kaiser strictly refused to accept George's third wife, Helene Freifrau von Heldburg (1839-1923), the former actress Ellen Francis to see.

In the years 1890-1900, parts of the park were redesigned, especially in the area near the palace. At the invitation of the ducal couple, Johannes Brahms visited Altenstein several times in 1894–1895. Duke Georg II died in Bad Wildungen on June 25, 1914 . On the day of his burial in the Meiningen Park Cemetery , June 28, 1914, the fatal shots were fired in Sarajevo that triggered the First World War . After the war, the abdication of the emperor and the abolition of the monarchy , Altenstein's function as a summer residence of the House of Saxe-Meiningen also came to an end.

In 1920, the last park ensemble was the ducal grave, the resting place of Duke Bernhard III. von Sachsen-Meiningen and his wife Charlotte von Prussia within sight of the castle. In 1942 (other sources speak of 1938) the castle and park in Altenstein were sold to the state of Thuringia . During the Second World War , the castle was used as a military hospital .

After the Second World War

After the war it was used for a short time as a hostel for apprentices and from 1946 it was called a convalescent home of the chamber of crafts and craftsmen’s convalescent home for short. In 1979 Altenstein was declared a landscape and garden design monument and included in the list of district monuments.

On the night of February 4, 1982, a fatal fire broke out in the castle due to a technical defect. The castle was destroyed down to the outer walls. In 1984 the first security and repair measures began. Even before the turnaround in the GDR, the roof was re-covered, but red with a green pattern due to the lack of green beaver tails , and the interior work started with hollow blocks . After that, all work was suspended for a while.

On July 20, 1995, ownership of the entire complex was transferred to the Thuringian Palaces and Gardens Foundation . Since then, the entire ensemble has been gradually reconstructed. It began with the roofing (now green again with a red pattern), the roof of the court marshal's office, the renovation of the two cavalier houses and the retaining walls of the castle. Planning began in 2009 and construction work on the interior of the palace in 2010, which is also to include a Brahms memorial. The castle was scheduled to be completed in 2015. However, this deadline could not be met. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported in May 2017 on the condition of the house and the progress and planned completion of the construction work by 2021.

tourism

Altenstein Park

The information office of the Altenstein-Glücksbrunn association with information point of the Thuringian Forest Nature Park is located in the former farm building to the left of the court marshal's office (round building) and is open daily. A small castle museum in the rotunda has limited opening hours.

The vaulted cellar in the Kavaliershaus is offered as a wedding room .

In the immediate vicinity are the Altenstein Cave , a chasm cave of the Altenstein Zechstein Reef, and the Luther Monument at the point where Martin Luther , who was banned by the Reich , was attacked on May 4, 1521 on his return journey from the Reichstag in Worms and on behalf of the Elector of Saxony was brought to the Wartburg for his own safety .

During the Federal Horticultural Show 2021 , the palace park was one of the 25 outdoor locations.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Duke Anton Ulrich's scandal: The actual reasons for this incident have now been uncovered by the local chronicler in Schweina during archive studies: the fire of 1733 also affected the servants housed on the Altenstein and the Amts-Castner (a tax officer). After the fire, they repaired stables and barns in the ruins of the outer bailey and ran a farm there on their own account. The ducal administration did not succeed in reconciling these unwelcome tenants. At the acceptance date, Duke Anton Ulrich looked straight from his castle window at the manure heap and the chicken yard of the leaseholders, which were only about 50 meters from the new castle building. He could not expect any of his future guests of state to see this without embarrassing himself to the core. He therefore denied the existence of the castle, and the tenants probably also speculated on a large sum of compensation, which the duke was not willing to grant. The conflict smoldered in secret for decades, and Anton Ulrich's successors also took care to hide the embarrassing circumstances. The last buildings in the outer bailey were demolished around 1820. (Source: Edith Raddatz: Georg I. and the Altenstein. In: Altensteiner Blatter. Schweina 2003/2004, pp. 14-33)

literature

  • Friedrich Mosengeil : Bad Liebenstein and its surroundings . Ettingsche Buchhandlung, Gotha 1815, p. 48 ( Text Archive - Internet Archive ).
  • Ludwig Bechstein : Love stone and old stone. A tourist guide. Publishing Comptoir, Gotha 1842.
  • H. Schwerdt , A. Ziegler : Latest travel guide for Thuringia (=  Meyer's travel books . Volume 5 ). Bibliographic Institute, Hildburghausen 1864, From Altenstein to Eisenach, Sp. 335–340 ( Text Archive – Internet Archive ).
  • Emil Rückert: Altensteins and Liebensteins prehistory. Gadow, Hildburghausen 1852 (reprint: Altensteins Vorzeit. Elchverlag, Bad Liebenstein 2002, ISBN 3-933566-08-8 ).
  • Bertram Lucke: The three summer residences of Duke George II of Saxe-Meiningen in Bad Liebenstein and on the Altenstein. Education and knowledge publishing house, Bad Homburg/Leipzig 1994, ISBN 3-927879-58-4 .
  • Bertram Lucke, Günther Thimm: Castle and Park Altenstein. German art publisher, Munich/Berlin 1997.
  • Roland Geissler : Hiking guide to Bad Liebenstein and the Inselsberg. Hikes and bike tours between Bad Salzungen, Ruhla, Eisenach, Trusetal, Brotterode and the Rennsteig. Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2007, ISBN 978-3-938997-79-6 .
  • Renate and Kurt Hofmann: Johannes Brahms at Altenstein Castle and at Meininger Hof. Official Guide Special of the Thuringian Palaces and Gardens Foundation. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-422-02347-5 .

web links

Commons : Altenstein Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

itemizations

  1. ↑ Manfred Tittel: Destroyed predatory nests . In: The People . Erfurt March 31, 1983.
  2. ↑ Doctor Martin Luther at the Wartburg from May 4, 1521 to March 2, 1522 . Mauke, Jena 1867, p. 33.
  3. ↑ Chronicle of the Bad Liebenstein fire brigade , page 34ff. (with photos of the fire)
  4. ↑ thueringerschloesser.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) (PDF)@1@2Template: dead link/www.thueringerschloesser.de
  5. ↑ A Castle for Brahms . In: FAZ , May 13, 2017, p. 12
  6. ↑ Getting married in the picturesque Altenstein Castle Park , accessed on March 14, 2021
  7. ↑ BUGA Erfurt 2021 - external locations. Retrieved March 17, 2021 .

Coordinates: 50° 50' 7.1"  N , 10° 20' 57.1"  E