Nossen Castle
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Schloss Nossen is located in the town of Nossen in the district of Meißen in the German state of Saxony .
history
The imposing palace complex, located on a rocky promontory above the valley of the Freiberg Mulde, goes back to a castle that was probably built in the first half of the 12th century. The castle was then owned by the Knights of Nozin, whose family was first mentioned here in 1185 in the person of Petrus de Nozin . The Lords of Nossen, as they are called today based on the current name of the city, had a strip of land between Pitzschebach and Mulde as a fief from the Bishop of Meißen. In the largely uninhabited land, village settlements such as Breitenbach, Gruna, Keseberg (today's Augustusberg ) and Niedereula emerged under the protection of the landlords . The town of Nossen later developed from the village settlement at the foot of the castle.
After the fief of the bishops to the Lords of Nossen had been settled, in 1315 the castle, whose structural shape is little known today, was again owned by the church, owned by Withego II von Colditz , and served as the seat of the bishops of Meißen Bishop Thimo von Colditz (see also Colditz (noble family) ) pledged it to his cousin Otto von Colditz in 1403 , before the complex and the city of Nossen passed into the possession of the Cistercians of Altzella Abbey in 1436 for the sum of 4,200 Rhenish guilders . They used the castle as the abbot's seat, but due to lack of money, they visibly decayed.
In the course of the Reformation , the monastery was dissolved in 1540 and became the property of the Electorate of Saxony. In 1554–57, Elector August had the castle's three half-towers, the striking west wing of today's castle, built as a travel and hunting lodge using the foundation walls and vaults of the castle and demolition material from the Altzella monastery. One of the most remarkable rooms in the new building was the so-called giant hall, which had space for several hundred people to eat the game that was shot during the hunts. On the walls of the hall in 1714 were among other things ... 27 deer heads with antlers on green and gold-plated shields ... In addition, the castle housed the Electoral Saxon Office of Nossen, founded by the secularization of the Altzella monastery in 1555, for the 1628–30 im in the south, in 1631 in the north and 1659–67 in the north-western part of the castle, new buildings were built. As a result, the remains of the castle complex in the middle of the castle courtyard could be dispensed with, so that they were demolished in 1667. The castle received its final shape with the completion of the gate tower (1682) and the construction of the stone castle bridge (1714), which replaced the wooden drawbridge.
During the Seven Years' War , the castle was badly damaged by the Prussians from 1756–63 . In 1775 the renaissance complex had literally gone out of fashion and was abandoned as a hunting and travel camp, but still served as the official residence. In 1808 prisons were built in the east and north wings to replace the ramshackle festivities outside the palace .
After the Nossen office was dissolved in 1857, the castle was used exclusively for administrative purposes and housed the pension and justice office, including the court office and prison. A fundamental renovation of the interior was carried out for this use, in which the giant hall was also divided into small rooms. In 1877 the judicial office was dissolved. As a result, an auxiliary penal institution of the Zwickau penal institution was built in the south wing , which in turn was relocated in 1889 and made way for a state educational institution for insane girls. In 1905 it was also dissolved. Since no further use was sought by the administration, the establishment of apartments in the castle complex began in 1910. After the tax office moved out (1934), additional living spaces were built. Parts of the castle have also been used as a museum since 1954.
Famous people at Nossen Castle
- The notorious cooper Christian Eckholdt from Lips Tullian's band of robbers, the Black Guard , is said to have been a prisoner at Nossen Castle in Roßwein after his arrest on October 18, 1712 . Eckholdt was executed on March 8, 1715 in Dresden .
- Countess von Cosel stayed here from November 23 to December 24, 1716 due to illness one month before her onward transport to Stolpen .
- Napoleon used the castle as his headquarters on the night of May 7th, 1813.
present
The castle has been renovated and reconstructed since the early 1980s. The property has been completely owned by the Free State of Saxony since 1994 and is maintained together with Altzella Monastery as a state castle operation. A comprehensive exhibition on the history of the palace was opened in 1996 in the formerly electoral rooms. There are also exhibitions on the Saxon noble families Schönberg and Friesen . There is also a library in the current museum , which houses around 6000 books. However, it is not open to the public and is only used for research purposes. Concerts, events and guided tours are held at the castle today.
Notes and sources
- ^ Documents from the Margrave of Meissen p. 352, line 7
- ↑ quoted in: Wunderwald (2000), p. 9
literature
- Peter Wunderwald: Nossen Castle . Series The historical place Bd. 85. Kai Homilius Verlag. Berlin 2000. ISBN 3-931121-84-4
- Georg Dehio : Handbook of the German art monuments Saxony I. Administrative region Dresden. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 1996
- Alfred Berger: A foray through the history of Nossen, commemorative publication for the home and school festival Whitsun 1936 , Nossen 1936
- Helmuth Gröger: Nossen - bishop's castle and official palace . In: Burgen und Schlösser in Sachsen , Heimatwerk Sachsen, 1940, p. 124
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 3 ′ 29.5 ″ N , 13 ° 18 ′ 7 ″ E