Reinsberg Castle is a castle in the village Reinsberg in

Mittelsachsen Mittelsachsen ("Central Saxony") is a district ('' Kreis'') in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. History The district was established by merging the former districts of Döbeln, Freiberg and Mittweida as part of the district reform of August ...

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 ...

History and ownership

The founder and builder of the castle is not known with certainty. However, the establishment of castle and village Reinsberg is probably due to a German nobleman named Reinhardt who had the castle built in order to protect an agricultural settlement. Already in 1197, the castle is recorded as the seat of a noble family when a member of the Reinsberg (Regensberg) family appears as a witness in a document. Their lordship did not endure for long, as they already lost major parts of their ancestral properties in the

14th century As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was a century lasting from 1 January 1301 ( MCCCI), to 31 December 1400 ( MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and n ...

to the Schönberg family who acquired the remainder, together with the castle, in 1411. The castle remained a seat of the Schönberg family for more than 500 years. Part of the estate was a folwark in Krummenhennersdorf which was operated as a separate

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

. In the

GDR 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 ...

, Reinsberg castle was a holiday hostel for employees of

Kombinat Combine (russian: Комбинат) is a term for industrial business groups, conglomerates or trusts in the former socialist countries. Examples include VEB Kombinat Robotron, an electronics manufacturer, and IFA, a manufacturer of vehicles ...

Schwarze Pumpe, afterwards it passed into private property and was used as a hotel until 1995. It stands currently (2019) empty. The park remains accessible to visitors on foot. A local initiative has formed to save the building from ruin. The adjacent bathing park has been the open-air swimming pool for Reinsberg since 1978. The hiking trail Grabentour passes in its immediate vicinity.

Location

The steep slope towards Bobritzsch river is a likely reason for the choice of the site for a castle-like fortification. The unprotected eastern side of the castle is defended by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

which could only be crossed on a

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 ...

. The castle was crowned by a substantial tower.

References

{{coord, 51.0058, N, 13.3556, E, source:wikidata, display=title Castles in Saxony