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Schloss Altenstein is a ''
schloss ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cognate ...
'', or palace, upon a rocky hill on the south-western slope of the
Thuringian Forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side i ...
, not far from
Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...
,
Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. It was the summer residence of the
Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...
, and is surrounded by 160 hectares (1.6 square kilometres) of
English landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...
, which contain, among other objects of interest, a cavern 300 metres long, through which flows a large and rapid stream.


Geography

Altenstein is a part of the municipality of
Bad Liebenstein Bad Liebenstein is a municipality and spa town in Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Geography Location Bad Liebenstein is situated 25 km north of Meiningen, and 18 km south of Eisenach. It is located in the ''Mittelgebirge' ...
in the
Wartburgkreis Wartburgkreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the west of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) the districts Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis, Gotha, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, and the districts Fulda, Hersfeld-Rotenburg and Wer ...
near
Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...
,
Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
, Germany. It sits on a platform with a height of around 460 metres above sea level, part of the
dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
hills at the western edge of the
Thuringian Forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side i ...
. It is surrounded by 160
hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...
s of park, which includes several pinnacles of
Zechstein The Zechstein (German either from ''mine stone'' or ''tough stone'') is a unit of sedimentary rock layers of Middle to Late Permian (Guadalupian to Lopingian) age located in the European Permian Basin which stretches from the east coast of Englan ...
rock.


History


Previous structures

A fortified structure, possibly initially a pre-Christian holy site, may have been roughly in the same location as the current house by the 6th century. The structure at this original site was later referred to as ''Alter Steyn''. Saint
Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...
, the apostle of the Germans, reportedly lived and preached at Altenstein in 724 and built a chapel on the so-called ''Bonifatiusfelsen''. A new castle (''Neuenburg'') was later built at this site by the '' Kloster Fulda''. In 1116, a knight “Dudo von Steyn” (later known as von Frankenstein) was mentioned as holding a castle here. Neuenburg itself was first mentioned in an extant document in 1150. In 1225, the older castle was first referred to as ''de antique lapide'' (“Old Stone”). From the mid-14th century, the castle was in the possession of the Landgraves of Thuringia. According to a 1330 document, in that year the von Frankenstein family sold the Neuenburg to Berthold VIII von Henneberg. In 1346, Friedrich der Ernsthafte, Landgraf von Thüringen bought the Altenstein, but not the Neuenburg (which remained with the Henneberg family until 1495), from , steward of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg at
Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 25,000 (2021).
. In 1347, Friedrich der Strenge married Katharina von Henneberg, the local estates of Steinbach and
Schweina Schweina is a village and a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 31 December 2012, it is part of the town Bad Liebenstein Bad Liebenstein is a municipality and spa town in Wartburgkreis district of Thu ...
were given to her as dowry. In 1353, after the death of Katharina's mother, Friedrich united these lands with Altenstein,
Gumpelstadt Gumpelstadt is a village of the Moorgrund municipality in the Wartburgkreis district in Thuringia, Germany (since 1994). Geography Gumpelstadt is located at an altitude of about 280 meters on the southwest edge of the Thuringian Forest and ...
and to create the ''Vogtei Altenstein''. Around 1370, Altenstein was in the hand of ''
Raubritter A robber baron or robber knight (german: Raubritter) was an unscrupulous feudal landowner who, protected by his fief's legal status, imposed high taxes and tolls out of keeping with the norm without authorization by some higher authority. Some re ...
'', calling themselves "Sterner". In 1379, they sacked Meiningen. In 1402, Landgraf Balthasar, residing on
Wartburg Castle The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the p ...
, stopped their activities. In the late 15th century, the Altenstein passed to the
Ernestine branch The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its ori ...
of the House of Wettin (in 1485) who gave it as a fief to the
Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper Fr ...
n (died 1505) in 1492. In 1495, Hans Hund also bought the Neuenburg. Not far from the Altenstein is the place where, in 1521,
Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
was “seized” by the order of the elector
Frederick the Wise Frederick III (17 January 1463 – 5 May 1525), also known as Frederick the Wise (German ''Friedrich der Weise''), was Elector of Saxony from 1486 to 1525, who is mostly remembered for the worldly protection of his subject Martin Luther. Freder ...
in a staged kidnapping, to be carried off to the Wartburg. An old beech called "Luther's Tree", which tradition connected with the reformer, was blown down in 1841, and a small monument now stands in its place. The Neuenburg was destroyed and the Altenstein damaged in 1554. The subsequent reconstruction work caused strife between the Hund family and the local communities about the use of
socage Socage () was one of the feudal duties and land tenure forms in the Feudalism, English feudal system. It eventually evolved into the freehold tenure called "free and common socage", which did not involve feudal duties. Farmers held land in excha ...
. This lasted for 70 years and resulted in the ''
Reichsacht The imperial ban (german: Reichsacht) was a form of outlawry in the Holy Roman Empire. At different times, it could be declared by the Holy Roman Emperor, by the Imperial Diet, or by courts like the League of the Holy Court (''Vehmgericht'') or th ...
'' being placed on several members of the family in 1622. In 1640, during the
Thirty Years’ War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
Imperial troops sacked Altenstein Castle. In 1699, Erhard Friedrich Hund ended
witchhunts A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern perio ...
in his possessions. Between 1485 and 1699, 18 people had been killed in the ''
Amt Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...
Altenstein'' as a result of persecution for witchcraft. Erhard also founded a hospital and an orphanage at Schweina. In 1722, the family Hund von Wenkheim died out and the fief passed back to the Ernestines, the
Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...
.


Current structure

In the night of 27/28 April 1733, an
arsonist Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wate ...
set fire to Steinbach, destroying 106 houses. Sparks and burning debris were carried all the way to the Altenstein, setting it alight. The old castle was completely destroyed. In 1736, a new palace in the
Baroque style The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
was erected by order of
Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (Meiningen, 22 October 1687 – Frankfurt, 27 January 1763), was Duke of Saxe-Meiningen from 1746 to 1763. Life Anton Ulrich was born on 22 October 1687 at Meiningen. He was the second but first surviving son ...
. The architect was Alessandro Rossini. However, the client was not pleased with the result since he expected the palace to face south and not as constructed towards the east. Reportedly, the Duke never used the palace. Yet his son, Duke Georg I began to use the palace from 1798 as the summer residence for himself and his family. He had some improvements made at the Schloss and the ''Hofmarschallamt'' (a simple three-storied building with Doric columns flanking the entry) was constructed. Georg I also had some changes made to the park. In 1799, the Altenstein cave was discovered during road works. Duke Bernhard II repeatedly asked architects – including the British court architect
Jeffry Wyattville Sir Jeffry Wyatville (3 August 1766 – 18 February 1840) was an English architect and garden designer. Born Jeffry Wyatt into an established dynasty of architects, in 1824 he was allowed by King George IV to change his surname to Wyatville ...
, to whom Bernhard had connections through his sister
Adelheid Adelheid is the modern Dutch and German form of the Old High German female given name Adalheidis, meaning "nobility" or "noble-ness". It may refer to the following people: * Saint Adelheid or Adelaide of Italy, (931–999), Holy Roman Empress an ...
(wife of
William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
) – to devise new plans for the palace, but none of them were implemented. In 1866, Bernhard resigned as Duke as a result of the
Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...
. However, he retained the Altenstein and lived there until his death in 1882. His wife
Marie Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tro ...
died in 1887. Only under their son Georg II did work at the house and park recommence. In 1888, he asked his court architect, Albert Neumeister, to come up with proposals and suggested as examples
Hatfield House Hatfield House is a country house set in a large park, the Great Park, on the eastern side of the town of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The present Jacobean house, a leading example of the prodigy house, was built in 1611 by Robert Ceci ...
and
Knole House Knole () is a country house and former archbishop's palace owned by the National Trust. It is situated within Knole Park, a park located immediately to the south-east of Sevenoaks in west Kent. The house ranks in the top five of England's large ...
. Neumeister and Georg II eventually settled on a compromise design. Whilst the architect had argued for a completely new palace, Georg II insisted on adding or changing the existing structure. The result was a palace that used the basic Baroque structure, but was designed in the English
Renaissance Revival style Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...
, featuring two-storied oriels,
bow window A bow window or compass window is a curved bay window. Bow windows are designed to create space by projecting beyond the exterior wall of a building, and to provide a wider view of the garden or street outside and typically combine four or more w ...
s, numerous chimneys, and
obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...
ornaments. This style, unique in Thuringia, was inspired by the relationships of the Meiningen dynasty to Great Britain and the taste of Georg II (also known as the "Theatre-Duke"), who liked the plays of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. The gardens had been redesigned beginning in the 1840s, after a visit by
Hermann, Fürst von Pückler-Muskau Prince Hermann Ludwig Heinrich von Pückler-Muskau (; born as Count Pückler, from 1822 Prince; 30 October 1785 – 4 February 1871) was a German nobleman, renowned as an accomplished artist in landscape gardening, as well as the author of a ...
in 1845. He was impressed by the park but gave the owner detailed advice on how to improve it. Actual design work was done by Weimar court gardener Carl Eduard Petzold. Ten years after Pückler-Muskau,
Peter Joseph Lenné Peter Joseph Lenné (the Younger) (29 September 1789 – 23 January 1866) was a Prussian gardener and landscape architect. As director general of the Royal Prussian palaces and parks in Potsdam and Berlin, his work shaped the development of 19 ...
also offered some advice. Altenstein was the summer residence of the Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen until the end of the monarchy in 1918. Although the upkeep of palace and park was subsequently neglected (in 1918 vandals destroyed the ''Teufelsbrücke'' and in 1923 the "Chinese Pavilion" had to be torn down), the ducal family retained use of the Altenstein. When
Princess Charlotte of Prussia English: Victoria Elizabeth Augusta Charlotte , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , birth_date = , birth_place = New Palace, Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia , death_date = , death_pla ...
, the wife of the last reigning Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, Bernhard III, and a granddaughter of
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
and sister of the last German Emperor,
Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...
, died in 1919, the Duke had a burial site created in the park; she was buried there in 1920. He himself died in 1928 and was buried next to his wife. The Altenstein remained the property of the family until
Ernst, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen Ernst, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (Ernst, Prinz von Sachsen-Meiningen; 27 September 1859 – 29 December 1941) was the head of the house of Saxe-Meiningen from 1928 until his death. Biography He was born in Meiningen, the eldest son of the heir ...
, died in 1941. His widow, Käthe Baroness von Saalfeld (née Katharina Jensen, daughter of poet
Wilhelm Jensen Wilhelm Hermann Jensen (15 February 183724 November 1911) was a German writer and poet. Biography Wilhelm Jensen was born at Heiligenhafen in the Duchy of Holstein (now Germany), the illegitimate son of Swenn Hans Jensen (1795–1855), the May ...
), decided to sell the property to the state of Thuringia in 1942. Although negotiations with the company running the Liebenstein spa (which had also rented the property) were well advanced, once the state declared an interest, these agreements were revoked. On 5 August 1942, Ralf Baron von Saalfeld (as executor of the will) sold the Altenstein estate to Thuringia for 521,000
Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛℳ; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the , and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reich ...
(equivalent to million euros). During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
it served as a recreation home for the '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' from 1943 to 1945. It served briefly as barracks for American and then for Soviet troops. After the Soviet occupation in 1945, the palace became a recreation home for the ''Handwerkskammer Thüringen'' (Thuringian chamber of skilled crafts) in 1946. From 1951 to 1958, the ''Hofmarschallamt'' housed a ''Forstfachschule'' (a school for forestry workers), and then a school for '' Agraringenieure'' (through 1990). In place of the ruined nursery, a boarding school was built in 1972. The park became part of the public forestry business run from
Bad Salzungen Bad Salzungen () is a town in Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wartburgkreis district. Geography Location Bad Salzungen is situated on the river Werra, east of Tiefenort and south of Eisenach. Divisions In July 2018 the former m ...
. In 1981, palace and park were declared a
listed monument Cultural heritage management (CHM) is the vocation and practice of managing cultural heritage. It is a branch of cultural resources management (CRM), although it also draws on the practices of cultural conservation, restoration, museology, arch ...
by the district authorities (at the time the
Suhl Suhl () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located SW of Erfurt, NE of Würzburg and N of Nuremberg. With its 37,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest of the six urban districts within Thuringia. Together with its northern neighbour-town Zella- ...
district). However, on 4 February 1982, the palace was destroyed by a fire resulting from an electrical defect, causing a total loss of all the interior designs. The roof collapsed and only the outer walls survived. Since 1984, it has been in the process of being rebuilt; but after delays related to the
German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
, so far only the roof and some windows have been fixed. In 2013, reconstruction of the ''Festssal'' was completed. This was supported by Federal funds from the program ''Investitionen für nationale Kultureinrichtungen in Ostdeutschland''. In 1994, the State of Thuringia confirmed the listed status of the Altenstein and since 1995, the palace has been part of the portfolio of the properties of '. According to them, around 8.5 million euro will be required to complete the restoration.


Today

The ''Schloss'' and park are open to the public. The outbuildings house a restaurant, a technical academy run by the '' TÜV Thüringen'' and a nature information centre. The former boarding school had been turned into a hotel, but is now closed. The palace is now deemed a ''Kulturdenkmal von nationaler Bedeutung'' (
cultural monument A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage regist ...
of national importance). The Federal government financially supported the creation of a memorial commemorating the presence of composer
Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...
, who visited the palace twice. This small museum opened in May 2017, allowing the general public access to the palace itself for the first time. The annual number of visitors to the park is around 130,000. As of May 2017, construction work on the palace is expected to be completed by 2021. The cave in the park is accessible to visitors for around 300 metres. There are occasional concerts inside a 12-metre-high domed cavern.


References


External links

{{Authority control Palaces in Thuringia Historic house museums in Germany Museums in Thuringia Buildings and structures completed in the 1730s Local museums in Germany Renaissance Revival architecture in Germany Buildings and structures in Wartburgkreis