Altenburg - Castle

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Description

(Local Name: Schloss) The Altenburg Castle stands on a porphyry crag rearing picturesquely above the town. A curving drive (1725) with two obelisks leads up to a gateway with a triumphal arch (1742-44). In the spacious courtyard, entered through the Bell-Tower, is an open-air theater (performances in summer). On the site of the Hausmannsturm is a Slav defensive wall dating from around 800. The Mantelturm (once the castle dungeon), known as the "Flasche" ("Bottle"), dates from the 11th C, the Renaissance gallery from 1604. Otherwise the castle in its present form is the result of 18th C rebuilding.

Notable features of the interior are the Banqueting Hall, with a ceiling painting by K. Moosdorf of "Cupid and Psyche", and the Bach Room, with ceiling paintings on the history of the Wettin family.

Hobbies & Activities category: Significant work of art; Castle, chateau, palace; Architecture - Medieval; Architecture - Renaissance; Theatrical hall or company

Castle Highlights

Castle Church

The Altenburg Castle Church (after 1444) has an organ by H. G. Trost (1738), on which Johann Sebastian Bach played in 1739.

Castle Museum

The Castle Museum in Altenburg has a large collection of playing cards and a playing-card-maker's workshop of 1600.

Lindenau Museum

The Lindenau Museum (1873-75) in Altenburg Castle, housed in a building in Italian Renaissance style, has a varied collection - casts of antique sculpture, medieval German sculpture, Italian

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