Pfaffroda Castle

Pfaffroda Castle is located on a rocky outcrop in Pfaffroda (City of Olbernhau ), Erzgebirgskreis . It was first mentioned in 1512 as a manor . It was partially destroyed during the Thirty Years War . After 1650 it was rebuilt and expanded.

history

Pfaffroda Castle in a view from 1859

Pfaffroda Castle (condition 2004)

Pfaffroda Castle - courtyard and tower

Portal with Schönberg coat of arms

At the beginning of the 13th century, secular priests from the Ossegg monastery established the Pfaffroda farm. The first documented mention as a manor comes from the year 1512. Between 1352 and 1389 Peter von Schönberg acquired the rule of Sayda including Purschenstein and Pfaffroda as a fiefdom of the Burgraves of Meißen . With the death of the last burgrave near Aussig in 1426, the margraves of Meissen assumed the position of liege lords. The Schönbergs remained the owners of the Purschenstein estate. Like many other possessions of the v. Schoenberg thus also became a fiefdom of the Wettins .

In 1480 Caspar von Schönberg traveled to Frauenstein and Pfaffroda in Rome and undertook to rebuild the church, which had been destroyed by a fire. Thereupon Pope Sixtus IV issued him a letter of indulgence . Caspar married Barbara von Bünau's second marriage and they built the castle in 1575–1578. The renaissance portal with the alliance coat of arms on the southwest gable of the castle has been preserved since 1578. Caspar was electoral chamberlain, chief miner and governor. During the Thirty Years War the castle, church and town were badly affected.

Caspar-Heinrich, probably the best-known owner of Pfaffroda, granted the Bohemian exiles a new home in his rule Purschenstein during the Thirty Years' War . But the consequences of the war were devastating for the von Schönberg family, they could not keep all their possessions. The electoral Saxon chief miner Georg Friedrich von Schönberg, from the main branch of Sachsenburg , acquired it from Caspar Heinrich's son August Pfaffroda shortly before his death in 1650. The manor Pfaffroda was probably time allod , so free property. Georg Friedrich's son Caspar, also his successor in the office of chief miner, also bought Dörnthal .

When the Napoleonic troops moved through in August 1813, King Murat of Naples stayed at Pfaffroda Castle. Carl Alexander von Schönberg (1857–1928) bequeathed Pfaffroda to his adoptive son Alfons Diener von Schönberg , son of his sister Sara, who was an established expert on Schönberg's history in the 20th century.

After the Second World War , the Saxon administration decided to expropriate large landowners and manufacturers, affecting Pfaffroda Castle and its owner Hubertus Diener von Schönberg. Between 1946 and 1990 the complex served various purposes, including a retirement home and a museum.

After 1945

In 1945, Pfaffroda Castle was stripped of its extremely valuable and extensive equipment. The associated lands and large forests were divided up in the course of the expropriations and the castle became public property of the GDR and was operated as a nursing home until 2016.

After the expropriation by the Red Army, refugees and displaced persons from eastern Germany were housed in the castle, some of whom found a place to stay there until their death. From 1947 it served as an after-work home (i.e. nursing home). At times 140 people lived in the property. A chimney fire on December 4, 1953 destroyed the south wing and the spire. The south wing was rebuilt by 1956 and the tower was covered with a makeshift roof. The spire was only restored in its original form in 2001.

After the political change , the after-work home continued to be operated as a nursing home in the Marienberg district. In 1999 an exhibition on the history of the castle and contemporary history began in the east wing (former stable). While working in the exhibition rooms in 2002, eight matchlock rifles from 1660 and a gold-plated armor collar of Elector Johann Georg II from 1664 were found. The rifles could be assigned to the armory of Pfaffroda Castle. The armor collar is the property of the Dresden Armory, which was stored in the castle from 1943 to protect it from destruction. The von Schönberg family has once again owned the crypt on the site since 2004. Hubertus Diener von Schönberg was buried there on August 14, 2004.

Due to the need for renovation of the roof and building envelope, in 2015 the Sozialbetriebe Mittleres Erzgebirge gGmbH, as the responsible body for the care facility with 65 residents, decided to close it. In the spring of 2017, Joachim Heinrich Diener von Schönberg and his brother Carl-Alexander Diener von Schönberg bought the now vacant castle for 60,000 euros. The two sons of Hubertus Diener von Schönberg founded the "Alfons Diener von Schönberg" foundation and want to use the proceeds to renovate the castle and establish a forest and forest academy with an associated hotel area. Helene Margarete von Schönberg has lived in the palace since May 2018. In addition, the Pfaffroda Castle Culture and Social Center runs an exhibition on the history of the castle. The exhibition on the GDR 1949 to 1990 was closed in 2018. A Christmas market takes place in the castle courtyard during Advent.

The castle park and the nearby ponds are visited by tourists and those seeking relaxation, especially in summer.