Ballenstedt Castle

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Ballenstedt Castle from the south-east
Aerial view of Ballenstedt Castle

The Ballenstedt Castle is a Baroque residence castle in Ballenstedt in Saxony-Anhalt . It was the residence of the Princes of Anhalt-Bernburg and the summer residence of the Dukes of Anhalt , built on a medieval castle and monastery complex of the Counts of Ballenstedt ( Askanier ).

investment

  • Banquet table in the White Hall

  • Roman room

  • bedroom

The castle is a baroque three-wing complex from the early 18th century on a hill at the western end of the city. The western end of the two-storey north wing still has remains of the westwork of the former monastery church with the tomb of Albrecht the Bear , the first Ascanian Margrave of Brandenburg and his wife Sophie. From the courtyard, the wing has a representative entrance on its long side with an outside staircase and four pilasters under a decorated gable on the mansard roof . The palace church from the middle of the 18th century is located in this wing above the crypt of the old monastery church as a hall building. The west wing houses the castle restaurant in the former remter of the monastery.

Suite

In the two-story, three-story south wing facing the slope, an exhibition on the ground floor shows The Early Ascanians . The permanent exhibition Courtyard Living was opened on the upper floor in 2018, curated by Carl Ludwig Fuchs . The living and living situation of the Ascan family between 1860 and 1945 is reconstructed in eight rooms, including the music room, study, bedroom, ballroom etc. as well as the so-called Roman room. There is also a small exhibition with works by the Stecklenberg wood artist Werner Müller .

The north-east wing, which contains the Ballenstedt Castle Film Museum , adjoins the north wing .

The castle ensemble also includes the former hunting arsenal, which is now used as a hotel under the name of the Großer Gasthof , the castle theater , the stables (now a café and senior citizens' residential park) and the castle park.

history

Castle with monastery

  • Westwork

  • crypt

The beginnings of the castle are not known; there are no archaeological findings from the time it was founded. In 1043 Count Esico founded a collegiate monastery of St. Pankratius and Abundus in his castle . This was then placed under the Nienburg Benedictine monastery as a provost and converted into a Benedictine monastery around 1123 by Count Otto the Rich and his son Albrecht the Bear . Until around 1140/45 the castle was probably Albrecht's main residence.

There is little historical information about the further development of the castle and monastery, both seem to have had little importance in the area. They were pillaged by robber knights in the late 15th century. In 1525 the monastery was burned down during the Peasants' War and then transferred to Prince Wolfgang von Anhalt by the abbot and the convent .

Baroque castle

Ballenstedt Castle, 1837

In addition to the reconstruction of the west wing, the monastery church was renewed between 1627 and 1675. During the Thirty Years' War , however, the country was badly damaged, and the castle was occupied and looted several times. Only decades later, at the beginning of the 18th century, could the castle be expanded further. Prince Victor Amadeus von Anhalt-Bernburg had the south wing of the palace and parts of the building built along the driveway to the palace. Under Prince Victor Friedrich , his son, the castle became a hunting and summer residence. The monastery church was demolished in 1748. In their place, the architecturally striking north wing was built under the direction of the Brunswick master builder Martin Peltier . In the west of the north wing were the apartments of the princes, in the east wing the new castle church found its place in a rectangular gallery hall.

Prince Victor Friedrich's heir, Friedrich Albrecht , finally moved his residence from Bernburg an der Saale to Ballenstedt in 1765 . During this time, the south wing was redesigned to become a residence in keeping with one's status. The result was the suite of rooms described above with the “White Hall” and the enfilade behind it, adorned with rocaille stucco ceilings, as well as the Roman Room, which received canvas coverings from the Berlin prospect painter Johann Fischer with depictions of Roman ruin scenes based on Piranesi . The adjacent castle park was also laid out (52 hectares).

  • Castle theater

  • Former stables

  • Castle Park

The palace theater was built in front of the palace courtyard in 1788. At the beginning of the 19th century, the north-east wing was extended to the castle gate. In 1810 the classical stables were built. The palace park was redesigned into an Italian terrace garden in 1859 by Peter Joseph Lenné . After the Bernburg line of the Ascanians was extinguished in 1863 (death of Alexander Carl), the entire property passed to the Dessau line, which used it temporarily as a residence or just as a hunting lodge. The south wing was used as a widow's residence until 1902.

After 1918

In the wake of the November Revolution of 1918, Prince Regent Aribert von Anhalt announced on November 12, 1918, the abdication of the ducal house. Nevertheless, the Ballenstedt Castle remained the family's private residence. After the end of the Second World War in 1945, the von Anhalt family was expelled from the castle and expropriated. Joachim Ernst von Anhalt was interned by the Soviets in the Buchenwald concentration camp , where he also died. His fate is particularly tragic, because Joachim Ernst von Anhalt was a staunch opponent of the National Socialist regime.

In the period from 1949 a forestry school was set up at the castle, which led to some renovations and destruction of the original structure. The Romanesque castle chapel at the east end of the north wing was destroyed and the castle's rich interior fittings were lost.

After the turn

After the reunification, the city of Ballenstedt came into possession of the castle, this was not without a dispute. Eduard Prinz von Anhalt , the youngest son of Joachim Ernst von Anhalt , the last Duke of Anhalt , had tried to get the castle and the lands that had been transferred from the GDR back to the Federal Republic, which did not succeed. Since then, the city has gradually adapted the castle to its original appearance; the palace complex now serves as a cultural center with gallery and event rooms.

Great inn

Prince Victor Friedrich had a hunting arsenal built on the south side of the palace in 1732–1733, which was needed to store all kinds of hunting equipment for his par force hunts . An imposing three-storey building was created, on the gable of which a relief with two deer and hunting equipment announced its intended purpose. There were living and lodging rooms for the servants and guests of the parforce hunts. Hunting weapons and a variety of hunting utensils such as cloths, safety nets and bump nets, harness, hunting horns and more had to be accommodated. A wood store, horse stables and dog kennel for the pack were built in the courtyard.

The great inn

In 1765, Friedrich Albrecht had the hunting lodge and armory converted into the "Great Inn" in the same year. The Walloon builder Martin Peltier de Belfort , commissioned by the redesign, built the Redoutensaal - a round hall with a gallery open in round arches on Doric wooden pillars. Thus the "Great Inn" developed more and more into the center of court life in the residential city of Ballenstedt. The management of the "Großer Gasthof" has been documented since 1791. Due to the poor structural condition, the building was demolished in 1995/1996 and rebuilt by 1997. The Dutch Van der Valk Group has been operating it since 2001 .

Hunting lodge tubular head

Hunting lodge tubular head

One kilometer southwest of the castle park is the Röhrkopf ⊙ hunting lodge in Rococo style, built according to plans by Martin Peltier de Belfort. After the reunification , Eduard Prince von Anhalt acquired the hunting lodge from the trust . For a long time, however, the city of Ballenstedt insisted on its right of first refusal, which was ultimately rejected by the court. The hunting lodge was sold to a private person in 2013 and renovated.

literature

  • Bernhard Heese / Hans Peper (ed.): Ballenstedter Chronik. A history of the castle and the city in individual representations. From the beginning until 1920. Newly published by the Kulturverein Wilhelm von Kügelgen , Ballenstedt 2004, ISBN 3-937648-05-4
  • Ballenstedt Castle: Residence of the Ascanians and Anhaltins . In: The fascination of castles and palaces . Saxony-Anhalt. Weltbild, 2006, p. 81-85 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Schloss Ballenstedt  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schloss Ballenstedt - A visit to the Duchess. In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, September 24, 2018. Accessed October 8, 2018 .
  2. ↑ On the history of the Gerlinde Schlenker monastery and monastery: The Ballenstedt monastery - house monastery of the early Counts of Anhalt. In: Harz-Zeitschrift . Lukas Verlag Berlin 2012. pp. 22–45 (online)
  3. ^ History of the Schlosshotel Ballenstedt. Retrieved October 8, 2018 .
  4. ↑ tubehead. In: ferien-roehrkopf-harz.de. Retrieved July 5, 2017 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 43 '6.5 "  N , 11 ° 13' 5.3"  E