Neuenburg Castle (Saxony-Anhalt)

The name of the castle is derived from it. neue Burg , that is, the "new castle". In historical sources, Neuenburg is repeatedly referred to as castrum Nuwenburg , niwen burch , or as Novum Castrum . However, the question remains unclear with respect to which building Neuenburg should be considered “new”: whether it relates to the castle Haldeck ( German Burg Haldeck ), to the fortified courtyard in Chaplice ( German Zscheiplitz , now part of the city Freiburg ), or in relation to Wartburg , somewhat earlier also founded by Ludwig Skakun .

The early history of Neuenburg is closely connected with the Ludings , who arrived in Thuringia from Franconia around 1030. Soon after 1085, the neighborhoods of Naumburg and Freiburg passed into their possession, which was secured through the marriage of Ludwig Skakun with Adelheida - the widow of the Saxon palatine Frederick III of Gozeck ( German: Friedrich III. Von Goseck ). Apparently, to strengthen their own positions and demonstrate power, a new castle was founded, until the suppression of the clan in 1247, which served as one of the most important residences of the Landgraves of Thuringia. The most distinguished guests and owners of Neuenburg are Elizabeth of Hungary , Friedrich Barbarossa and Heinrich von Feldeke , who completed his famous epic of Aeneid and probably died in the castle around 1190.

Having passed into the possession of the Margraves of Meissen in the middle of the 13th century, Neuenburg became one of the many side buildings of the Vettins , and only around 1440 under William III again fell into the center of political interest for a short time.

In 1485 - after the Leipzig partition - the castle, together with the city and Amt Freiburg, departed from the Albertine line of the Vettins , and was at the request of the Saxon elector Augustus I in the middle of the 16th century rebuilt as a hunting estate. In the future, he served as a hunting castle to the dukes of Saxe-Weissenfels , as well as to Elector Frederick Augustus II . With the death of the latter, Neuenburg finally lost its significance as a residence, and was used for the needs of local government.

According to the decrees of the Vienna Congress , in 1815 the castle of Neuenburg went to Prussia , and in the middle of the 19th century, on the wave of a romantic passion for the Middle Ages, it became a favorite destination for hiking. Since the 1840s, tendencies for the conservation and restoration of castle buildings also appeared: for example, in 1842-1855, under the leadership of Ferdinand von Kwast and Friedrich August Ritter, the first restoration of the castle chapel was carried out.

In May 1934, the party school of the Union of German Girls was opened here, and in the summer of next year - a museum.

From 1970 to 1989, the castle was empty due to its poor condition, and only after the reunification of Germany in 1990 was it reopened for visiting.

Since 1997, Neuenburg has been managed by the Palaces, Castles and Gardens of Saxony-Anhalt Foundation ( German: Stiftung Schlösser, Burgen und Gärten des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt ).

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  Castle gate

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  Fragment of the Romanesque wall

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  Bergfried “Fat Wilhelm”

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  View of castle buildings from bergfried

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  Castle chapel

• Schmitt, Reinhard: Zu den Wohn- und Palasbauten der Neuenburg bei Freyburg / Unstrut vom Ende des 11. bis zur Mitte des 13. Jahrhunderts // Burgen und frühe Schlösser in Thüringen und seinen Nachbarländern. Forschungen zu Burgen und Schlössern 5. München, Berlin, 2000. S. 15-30. ISBN 3-422-06263-7 .
• Wäscher, Hermann: Die Baugeschichte der Neuenburg bei Freyburg an der Unstrut (= Schriftenreihe der Staatlichen Galerie Moritzburg in Halle. Heft 4). Halle, Kreuz-Verlag, 1955
• Wäscher, Hermann; Kukla, Karl-Heinz: Burgen am unteren Lauf der Unstrut: Die Neuenburg. Staatliches Museum Schloss Neuenburg, 1963.