Freudenstein Castle (german: Schloss Freudenstein) is located on the ''Schloßplatz'' ("Castle Square") on the edge of the town centre of

Freiberg Freiberg is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany. It is a so-called ''Große Kreisstadt'' (large county town) and the administrative centre of Mittelsachsen district. Its historic town centre has been placed under heritage c ...

in the German state of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, 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 ...

. Its history is closely linked to the

House of Wettin 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 ...

. After several conversions the castle is now a

stately home An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

with four wings comprising these buildings: the Langes Haus, Neues Haus, Kirchenflügel, Großer Turm und Schmales Haus ("Long House", "New House", "Church Wing", "Great Tower" and "Narrow House").

History

After the discovery of

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

in Christiansdorf,

Margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the ...

Otto II of Meissen Otto II, the Rich (german: Otto der Reiche; 1125 – 18 February 1190), a member of the House of Wettin, was Margrave of Meissen from 1156 until his death. Life He was the eldest surviving son of Conrad, Margrave of Meissen and Lusatia. When hi ...

had a castle built in 1168 to protect the

silver mines Silver mining is the extraction of silver from minerals, starting with mining. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires elaborate technologies. In 2008, ca.25,900 metric tons were consumed ...

. On 31 July 1312 the castle is first mentioned in a record as a ''Hus'' ("house"). In later documents it is described as an ''arx'', ''Castrum'', ''flos'' and ''Burg''. The Freiberg castle is first referred to as "Freudenstein" in 1525. After 1505 Duke Henry the Pious mainly resided in Freiberg. During his reign, his sons, later the electors of Saxony, Moritz and

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, were born at the castle. The construction of the new castle was begun in 1566 by master builder, Hans Irmisch, under the supervision of Rochus zu Lynar. Its completion in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

architectural style was finished in 1577. In

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 batt ...

, it formed part of the defensive system of the town of Freiberg, and was occasionally used as a military base. In 1762, in consequence of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

, the interior of the castle was completely wrecked. When ownership of the property was taken over by the military treasury in 1784, the second major conversion of the Renaissance palace into a

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

was carried out. This involved a major change to the building structure. The Renaissance windows were replaced by small armoury windows. Inside, low armoury floors were built in a simple design. From 1800, it was partly rebuilt into a miners' granary ('' Bergmagazin''). During the Napoleonic occupation in 1813, the castle was used as a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...

for 1,500 wounded. With the transfer of legal ownership to the town of Freiberg in 1957, it served until 1979 as a granary. In 1973, a youth club opened in the basement. From 1980 to 1990, a heritage organization was based at the castle. In a return to its structural appearance in 1577, the facade of the New House was rebuilt in the Renaissance style under its direction. In 2004, ownership of the castle was given back to the town of Freiberg. Between 2005 and 2008 it was converted as the result of a Europe-wide competition under the direction of AFF Architects Berlin/Chemnitz. This saw the gutting of the Church Wing, in order to house the mining archives. The "terra mineralia" exhibition was housed in the adjacent Long House.

References

Literature

* Heinrich Douffet, Uwe Richter, Ulrich Thiel: ''Schloss Freudenstein in Freiberg. Die Herausbildung der Stadt Freiberg und die Anlage der Burg''. In: ''Sächsische Heimatblätter''. Vold. 54, No. 2, 2008, , pp. 172–184 * Heinrich Douffet, Uwe Richter: ''Zur Fertigstellung des Schlosses Freudenstein in Freiberg im Jahre 2008.'' in: Erzgebirgsverein e. V. (pub.): ''Jahrbuch für das Erzgebirge 2008.'' Marienberg, 2007, , pp. 6–8 * Gerhard Heide, Christel-Maria Höppner, Steffen Jahn, Andreas Massanek, Uwe Richter: ''Glanzlichter aus der Welt der Mineralien. Die Pohl-Ströher-Mineraliensammlung Schloss Freudenstein/Freiberg''. TU Bergakademie Freiberg, 2008, * Christian Weise, ed.: ''Freiberg, Mineralien, Bergbau & Museen'', extraLapis No. 36, Munich, 2009, ISSN 0945-8492

External links

Castle home page with numerous photographs

Website of "terra mineralia" with information about the exhibition on 23 October 2008
{{Authority control Freudenstein Freiberg Buildings and structures in Mittelsachsen