Burg Gnandstein or Gnandstein Castle is located in Gnandstein, part of the city of

Kohren-Sahlis Kohren-Sahlis is a town and a former municipality in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. Since January 2018, it is part of the town Frohburg. It is situated 14 km southeast of Borna, and 31 km northwest of Chemnitz. History The ...

in the

Leipziger Land Leipziger Land is a former district in Saxony, Germany. It was bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Delitzsch, the district-free city Leipzig, Muldentalkreis, Mittweida, the district Altenburger Land in Thuringia, and the dis ...

district of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

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 ...

. The castle is considered the best preserved fortress in Saxony. Burg gnandstein-2

Geography

The castle stands on a hill overlooking the valley of the river

Wyhra The Wyhra (in its upper course: ''Wiera'') is a river of Saxony and Thuringia, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Pleiße, which it joins near Lobstädt. See also *List of rivers of Saxony *List of rivers of Thuringia A list of rivers o ...

in central Saxony. It is situated on the border with

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 ...

History

The castle was built in the Romanesque style in the 13th century, probably only with a rectangular groundplan and a residential tower. Parts of the present building still date from this early period. The external walls were extended several times. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

the castle was attacked by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

troops and partly destroyed. Shortly before the end of the war the south wing burned down after being struck by lightning.

Well house

The well house is more than 33 meters high. It was used as a watch tower. Image:Replicagnandstein.jpg, Wooden replica of the fortress Image:wellhousegnandstein.jpg, View from the top of the well house Image:bottonwellhousegnandstein.jpg, The well house from below :''this article is based on that in the German Wikipedia''

External links

Museum Digital: Gnandstein Castle
– The Gross Collection
The Gross Collection
– in German language only
Burg Gnandstein
– German Castles in Saxony Museums in Saxony Historic house museums in Germany Buildings and structures in Leipzig (district) {{Saxony-struct-stub