Harzgerode Castle

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Harzgerode Castle, 2017
Entrance area, south side
Courtyard side of the tower, 2010

The Castle Harzgerode is a Grade II listed castle in the town of Harzgerode in the district of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt in the resin . It was the residential palace on the Anhalt-Bernburg-Harzgerode branch line and has a special significance in terms of regional history.

location

The castle complex is located on the northwestern edge of the old town of Harzgerode at the address Schlossberg 3 .

Architecture and history

Presumably the complex was built at the beginning of the 13th century as a fortress of the Princes of Anhalt against the Nienburg monastery . A first documentary mention comes from the year 1326 as Slot tho Hazekerode . 1398 pledged Count Otto III. von Anhalt bought the castle and its share in the town of Harzgerode for 400 shock groschen to Count Günther von Mansfeld , who passed the pledged property on in the same year. In 1413, it was pledged together with the towns of Harzgerode and Güntersberge for 10,500 Rhenish guilders to the Wettin dynasty , who soon lent it on. It was not until 1536 that the princes of Anhalt were able to remove the Harzgeröder and Güntersberger area from the pledge by paying 19,850 gulden to Count Botho the Blessed of Stolberg.

Prince George III. von Anhalt , who u. a. the Office Harzgerode had fallen, commissioned the Amtshauptmann Hans von Knedlingen to take over the supervision of the construction of the dilapidated castle. Kurt Apel was won as master builder. Built between 1549 and 1552, grouped around a square castle courtyard, defensive walls and plastered buildings made of rubble stones . The castle complex was integrated into the Harzgerode city ​​fortifications . The living area of ​​the castle consists of a three-story wing on the east side of the courtyard. It is covered by a high hipped roof. At the southeast corner of the house is a stair tower built on a rectangular floor plan . A baroque sandstone plaque shows the coat of arms of the Principality of Anhalt-Harzgerode on its front . The walls of the doors and windows are made of red sandstone , the predominantly coupled windows are arranged irregularly. On the courtyard side of the house, beneath a crucifix framed by pilasters in the Renaissance style , there is an inscription by the builder in Latin written in heximeters and pentameters . The crucifix was probably created by Ludwig Binder , who worked in Dessau at the court of Anhalt .

The basement consists of two large rooms spanned by barrel vaults, the ground floor is formed by parallel barrel vaults. On the second floor there is a two-aisled hall that occupies the entire width of the house and was later significantly renovated. The west wall of the room has two doors with renaissance style draperies. The parquet of the hall is made from 18 woods found in the Harz Mountains. On the first floor there is a wall painting from around 1660 in a window niche. It shows floral and figurative motifs. Some floors and beamed ceilings have also been preserved in their original form. In the northern gable room is one of stone -constructed fireplace. Above the rectangular chimney opening, which is surrounded by a relief decorated with diamonds, is the year 1566. On a large ledge there are four segment arches with shield coats of arms . Originally there was another wing of the building on the south side, but in 1775 it was torn down except for parts of the outer wall.

The northern, western and partly also southern boundaries of the courtyard form a wall consisting of blind arches with covered battlements. In the northwest corner there is a stone round tower. Above the gateway in the southern wall, the coat of arms of the sovereign is attached. In order to remedy the lack of rooms to accommodate the royal camp, which was mentioned in an official register in 1563, another building was built as a west wing behind the western boundary wall with window and door openings to the castle courtyard at the end of the 1680s with the help of the builder Pietro Neuroni built.

With the new palace a representative administrative and power center of the Anhalt Harz was created. Decorated with ornamental gables and dwarf houses, it met the contemporary demands of a sovereign seat. To the south of the palace was an extensive forecourt, to the north a large park as a so-called pleasure garden with an orangery. Prince Joachim Ernst , sole ruler of Anhalt from 1570, stayed here with his court several times. While the Harzgeröder Castle was the preferred refuge in its time, especially in times of plague, it was for its successors several times during the turmoil of the 30 Years War.

When the principality of Anhalt-Bernburg was divided in 1635, Prince Friedrich von Anhalt-Bernburg-Harzgerode made the castle his residence. However, his son Wilhelm von Anhalt-Bernburg-Harzgerode died childless in 1709, so that the Principality of Anhalt-Harzgerode fell back to the Principality of Anhalt-Bernburg . After the princely widow's departure, the palace served as a residence for princely officials, but was also used for social purposes. During the 7 Years' War , the castle was granted the right to mint coins in the Middle Ages, citing the Harzgerode for the minting of inferior coins. In the 1930s it was a temporary labor service barracks, then accommodation for evacuees and displaced persons. In the 1980s, a fundamental renovation of the facility began, which was largely completed in spring 2017 with work on the west wing.

In the local register of monuments , the castle is listed as a historical building under registration number 094 50065 . The linden tree to the left of the portal is registered as a natural monument of the Harz district with registration number 0047QLB.

Todays use

The restored castle now houses the castle museum including a permanent exhibition on the Mägdesprung ironworks and an exhibition with sculptures and bronze sculptures by the Harzgerode-born sculptor Wilhelm Otto , the city library and the city information center; it contains larger rooms for public events as well as a restaurant ( castle cellar ). The monument, which is owned by the city, is widely accessible to the public.

literature

  • Andreas Stahl: The princely-Anhalt renaissance castle Harzgerode. In: Castles and Palaces in Saxony-Anhalt, Halle 2001, no. 10, ISSN  0944-4157 , pp. 248–280.
  • Karl-Heinz Börner : Harzgerode Castle - from the medieval castle to the cultural center of the city. In: Quedlinburger Annalen , 6th year, 2003, pp. 14-27.
  • Friedhelm Linemann, Andreas Friebe: Harzgerode and the Selketal , Letterado Verlag, Quedlinburg 2006, ISBN 3-938579-22-6 , p. 34 f.
  • Ulla Jablonowski: Early Renaissance castles of the Princes of Anhalt. In: Castles and Palaces in Saxony-Anhalt, Halle 2006, no . 15, ISSN  0944-4157 , pp. 309–311.
  • Karl-Heinz Börner: Brief history of the city of Harzgerode. Harzgeroder Hefte 3, 2008.
  • Olaf Karlsohn: Harzgerode Castle. Current construction studies in the black kitchen. In: Burgen und Schlösser in Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle 2011, H. 20, ISSN  0944-4157 , pp. 180-199.
  • Georg Dehio: Handbook of German Art Monuments , Saxony-Anhalt I, Magdeburg District , Deutscher Kunstverlag Munich Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-422-03069-7 , p. 367 f.
  • State Office for the Preservation of Monuments of Saxony-Anhalt (Ed.): List of monuments in Saxony-Anhalt. Volume 7.2: Falko Grubitzsch, with the participation of Winfried Korf and Theo Gosselke: Quedlinburg district. Halle 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-072-3 , p. 153.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Georg Dehio : Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler , Sachsen-Anhalt I, administrative region Magdeburg, Deutscher Kunstverlag Munich Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-422-03069-7 , p. 367.
  2. ↑ State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Saxony-Anhalt (ed.): List of monuments in Saxony-Anhalt. Volume 7.2: Falko Grubitzsch, with the participation of Winfried Korf and Theo Gosselke: Quedlinburg district. Halle 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-072-3 , p. 153
  3. ↑ Short question and answer Olaf Meister (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen), Prof. Dr. Claudia Dalbert (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen), Ministry of Culture March 19, 2015 Printed matter 6/3905 (KA 6/8670) List of monuments Saxony-Anhalt , p. 1842 f.

Coordinates: 51 ° 38 ′ 33.9 "  N , 11 ° 8 ′ 29.7"  E