Burgk Castle ( 1403) is a '' schloss'' and former

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in the county of Saale-Orla-Kreis in the

Thuringian Highlands The Thuringian Highland, Thuringian Highlands or Thuringian-Vogtlandian Slate MountainsKohl, Horst; Marcinek, Joachim and Nitz, Bernhard (1986). ''Geography of the German Democratic Republic'', VEB Hermann Haack, Gotha, p. 7 ff. . (german: Thüring ...

of Germany, which today houses a museum that portrays the princely lifestyle of years gone by. From the time of its construction in the Middle Ages to 1945 it belonged to the

House of Reuß Reuss (german: Reuß , ) was the name of several historical states located in present-day Thuringia, Germany. Several lordships of the Holy Roman Empire which arose after 1300 and became Imperial Counties from 1673 and Imperial Principalities in ...

. The ''schloss'' and village of Burgk lie on an exposed site on a rock plateau above the village of Burgkhammer and the eponymous reservoir on a bend in the Saale River. It is nine kilometres from the A 9 motorway (Berlin–Munich).

Description

The well preserved ''schloss'' still has the character of a castle, with many medieval details. For example, the original '' palas'' has survived in entirety, as has the '' bergfried'' and both stone bridges that lead to the inner ring and ''palas''. Formerly both bridges were

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

s. On the outer bridge, below the ''Amtshaus'' ("district office"), a toll tariff board is displayed. In 2016, during the opening of a

Baroque 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 ...

wall, a medieval parlour or ''Bohlenstube'' was found, dating to 1402. When the second gatehouse was demolished in 1739, a chamber and a dog were found. This was probably offered as a sacrifice during construction about 400 years ago and walled alive into the building. Today the mummified dog is displayed in the castle entrance behind a glass window. The

castle chapel Castle chapels (german: Burgkapellen) in European architecture are chapels that were built within a castle. They fulfilled the religious requirements of the castle lord and his retinue, while also sometimes serving as a burial site. Because the ...

and kitchens are well preserved, including the kitchen chimney. At the western end of the site is the Red Tower (''Rote Turm'') with a timber-framed top in the Late Renaissance style. The entrance to the Red Tower is along a covered chemin de ronde, from which three others run along the walls. In the centre of the mid-18th century French-style

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

south of the ''schloss'' is the ''Sophienlust'' pavilion, a late Baroque/ Classicist style building.

Gallery

Schloss Burgk Torhaus.jpg, Gatehouse Schloss Burgk.JPG, Fortifications and the Red Tower Roter Turm Burgk.JPG, The Red Tower seen from the '' zwinger'' Torhaus mit Backofen.JPG, Gatehouse and baking oven Schloss Burgk Sophienhaus.jpg, ''Sophienlust'' Pavilion Schloss Burgk Sophien-Pavillon.jpg, Inside the Pavilion

External links

Website of the ''schloss''
* , docu-drama, four-part series by

MDR MDR may refer to: Biology * MDR1, an ATP-dependent cellular efflux pump affording multiple drug resistance * Mammalian Diving reflex * Medical device reporting * Multiple drug resistance, when a microorganism has become resistant to multiple drugs ...

, first broadcast: 12 December 2005, documented typical daily work in the year 1419 at Schloss Burgk under the most authentic conditions (archived)

References

{{Authority control Renaissance architecture in Germany Burgk Castles in Thuringia Museums in Thuringia