Wettin Castle

Wettin Castle occupies a rocky promontory overlooking the Saale River and comprises three main sections: the Upper Castle (Oberburg), Middle Castle (Mittelburg), and Lower Castle (Unterburg). Each part has its own distinct historical background and structural features.

The Lower Castle is the oldest part, confirmed by archaeological excavations led by Paul Grimm in the 1920s and 1930s. At this site, investigators uncovered stone walls set in clay dating back to the tenth century, including a ring wall approximately two meters thick, which was dated to around 1100 AD based on pottery shards found nearby. This fortification marks the foundation of the original defensive structures protecting the settlement.

The Upper Castle once featured a tall main tower known as a bergfried. A 1640 engraving by Matthäus Merian depicts this tower, although by that time it was already in ruins and it was completely dismantled by 1697 following a fire in 1660. The Upper Castle also had a notable gatehouse built in 1565, which was lost with the castle’s decline.

By the mid-fifteenth century, the Lower Castle was divided between two noble families: the Ammendorfs, who controlled the riverside section, and the von Winckels, who held the side facing the town. In 1555, the von Winckel family acquired the full estate and carried out significant renovations around 1600. These included the addition of baroque gables to the Ammendorf house and the construction of the distinctive Winkelturm, a corner tower completed in 1606. Between 1768 and 1770, the von Winckel residence was remodeled in the Rococo style, highlighting changing architectural tastes.

In the early nineteenth century, Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia oversaw further rebuilding of the Winkelturm house and removed the northern gatehouse to widen access routes. Around 1830, the upper floors of both the northern and southern wings were also taken down. The St. Peter’s Church that once stood within the castle grounds was demolished in 1840. The medieval bergfried, having long been in disrepair, was fully dismantled in 1860.

Later nineteenth- and twentieth-century developments included the construction of industrial and agricultural buildings within the Lower Castle’s area. These additions, often utilitarian in design, replaced parts of the medieval fabric and define the present-day appearance of the site. The fortified gate of the Lower Castle experienced significant alterations in the early 1930s to accommodate its role as a Nazi party school.

The Middle Castle area, lying between the Upper and Lower sections, became the location for educational buildings constructed during the twentieth century. Ongoing archaeological investigations, renewed since 2018 in connection with school expansion projects, have provided further details about the castle’s phased construction and evolving functions over time. These excavations continue to illuminate the complex history preserved within Wettin Castle’s remains.