The Konradsburg is a former castle, monastery and manor house near

Ermsleben Falkenstein/Harz is a town in the Harz district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was created in 2002 by merging the town of Ermsleben with the former municipalities of Endorf, Meisdorf, Neuplatendorf, Pansfelde, Reinstedt und Wieserode. The new c ...

in the German federal state of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

Castle

Konradsburg was first mentioned in 1021 and was originally built to protect the imperial demesne ('' Reichsgut'') of the

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

.''Konradsburg''
at www.konradsburg.com. Accessed on 6 Mar 2011. However it has no

fortified tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and ful ...

s, keep (''

bergfried ''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Spanish: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries and in countries under German ...

'') or great hall (''

Palas A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval ''Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson, ...

'') to indicate that it was a fortified castle site.

Monastery

After 1120, the Konradsburgs left this fortified hill spur, which lies about 3 kilometres south of

and about eight kilometres west of

Aschersleben Aschersleben () is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approximately 22 km east of Quedlinburg, and 45 km northwest of Halle (Saale). Geography Aschersleben lies near the confluence of the r ...

, built Falkenstein Castle in the Selke valley and called themselves Falkensteins from 1142. On the Konradsburg a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey was founded which became the spiritual and economic centre of the area for several centuries. According to tradition, the conversion of the castle into a monastery had been a reparation imposed on

Egeno II of Konradsburg Egeno II of Konradsburg (also ''Conradsburg'') was a free knight of Konradsburg, in the northeast of the Harz region in Central Germany, near Ermsleben. Egeno II may have been the son or grandson of Egeno I of Konradsburg. Around 1080 (after 1076, ...

for murdering

Adalbert II, Count of Ballenstedt Adalbert II of Ballenstedt ( – 1076/1083), an early member of the House of Ascania, was ''Graf'' (count) in Saxony and ''Vogt'' of Nienburg Abbey. Life Adelbert, first mentioned in a 1033 deed, was born at Ballenstedt Castle in the Saxon Schwab ...

around 1080. In 1477 the monastery was given to the

Carthusians The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...

and became Konradsburg Charterhouse. As a result of the

German Peasants' War The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt (german: Deutscher Bauernkrieg) was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It failed because of intense oppositio ...

, the monks gave up the monastery of Konradsburg in 1526. Existing structural and excavated remains have revealed the extent of the former monastery. Of the original three-aisled Romanesque

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

, the high

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

and its underlying

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

have been preserved. Despite its simplicity, the chancel conveys a sense of the impressive size of the ancient basilica. The crypt is a five-aisled, groined vault, supported by columns and pillars. Capitals and imposts, decorated with architectural ornaments (''Bauzier'') showing a wide range of influences (e.g. Rhenish-French), are testimony to the architecture of the 13th century. The main features of the buildings next to the church can be made out from the east and north wing of the enclosure (''Klausur'').

Manor house

In 1712 the Konradsburg was put to agricultural use as the manor house for an estate, or ''Domäne'', until 1945. In the centre of the old cloister stands the well house, a two-storey,

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

building, probably from the 18th century. The well is over 45 metres deep, probably dating to the time of the monastery and has a technical showpiece - a donkey gin (''Eselstretrad''). The other buildings were constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries for agricultural purposes.

Post 1945

After 1945, it was used for a short time for agricultural purposes by a private farmer. Efforts by the town of Ermsleben and the Catholic Church in Aschersleben were unable, under the circumstances prevailing at the time (the site lay in Communist

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

), to prevent the increasing neglect and dilapidation of Konradsburg in the 1970s, a time characterised by a rapid decline in its appearance.

Conservation and tourism

Since 1982 young people have been involved in the conservation of the Konradsburg. From 1984 to 1988 it was supported by students of the Faculty of Art Science of the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. The decline of the site was halted and part of it was opened to the public. On 1 June 1990 the initiative of the Society for the Promotion of the Konradsburg (''Förderkreis Konradsburg'') was founded to look after the castle site. In the years that followed, several endangered historic buildings in the vicinity were also taken over by the society, renovated and utilised, for example, the tower windmill at Endorf, the old brick factory at Wieserode and the forester's house at Friedrichshohenberg. In 1994 the society was accepted by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

into its Treasures of the World project. Since 2003 the society has run a sheep-farming business at the foot of the castle. The Konradsburg is a stop on the

Romanesque Road The Romanesque Road (german: Straße der Romanik) is a scenic route in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt in central-east Germany. It is part of the Transromanica network, a major European Cultural Route since 2006. Route The route takes the ...

. The Konradsburg remains open to the public and has a cafe. It is also checkpoint 201 on the

Harzer Wandernadel The Harzer Wandernadel is a system of hiking awards in the Harz mountains in central Germany. The hiker (or mountain biker) can earn awards at different levels of challenge by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and stamping his or ...

hiking trail network.

References

External links

Website of the Society for the Promotion of the Konradsburg

Artist's impression of the castle in medieval times
{{Authority control Castles in Saxony-Anhalt Monasteries in Saxony-Anhalt Carthusian monasteries in Germany Romanesque architecture in Germany Romanesque Road History of Anhalt Falkenstein, Saxony-Anhalt Abbeys and churches in the Harz Museums in Saxony-Anhalt Roman Catholic churches in Saxony-Anhalt