Anhalt Castle (german: Burg Anhalt) is a ruined

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

fortification near the town of

Harzgerode Harzgerode is a town in the district of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography Harzgerode lies in the lower eastern part of the Harz mountain range on the Selke River, south of Quedlinburg. It is connected to Gernrode and Quedlinburg via A ...

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 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Location

The castle is located in the eastern, lower part 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 w ...

mountain range (''Unterharz''). The ruins stand on the Großer Hausberg, a hill situated between the villages of

Meisdorf Meisdorf is a village in the town of Falkenstein/Harz in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Location Meisdorf lies at the eastern foot of the Harz Mountains in the east of the Harz/Saxony-Anhalt Nature Park at around . ...

and Mägdesprung, above the Selke valley. The area is part of the

Harz/Saxony-Anhalt Nature Park The Harz/Saxony-Anhalt Nature Park (german: Naturpark Harz/Sachsen-Anhalt) is situated n the districts of Harz and Mansfeld-Südharz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The nature park which lies in the Harz Mountains was founded in 2003 and has ...

; at a short distance up the Selke river is the preserved Falkenstein Castle.

History

The fortress was probably built by Count Otto of Ballenstedt (d. 1123), a member of the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

noble

House of Ascania The House of Ascania (german: Askanier) was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schlos ...

. Otto's grandfather Count Esico, mentioned in a 1036 deed issued by Emperor Conrad II, had ruled in the Saxon '' Schwabengau'' and the adjacent territories of the Saxon Eastern March. Otto assumed comital rights in Saxony after the assassination of his father Count Adalbert II in 1080; he married Eilika, the daughter of Duke Magnus of Saxony, and launched several campaigns against the

Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs ( dsb, Połobske słowjany, pl, Słowianie połabscy, cz, Polabští slované) is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic ( West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern Germ ...

. Shortly before his death, he turned the

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a Church (building), church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college (canon law), college of canon (priest), canons: a non-monastic or secular clergy, "secular" community of clergy, organis ...

Ballenstedt Ballenstedt is a town in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Geography It is situated at the northern rim of the Harz mountain range, about 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Quedlinburg. The municipal area comprises the vil ...

into 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') , found ...

abbey and had Anhalt Castle erected as the dynasty's ancestral seat, from which the Ascanian Principality of Anhalt got its name. The castle was first mentioned in 1140: while Otto's son Albert the Bear fought for the Saxon ducal title against the rivalling Welf dynasty, the fortress was devastated by the forces of the Archbishop of Magdeburg and Margrave Conrad of Meissen. Shortly afterwards, however, Albert had it rebuilt. The new castle complex was one of the mightiest fortifications in the Harz region. The scale of the castle was comparable to that of the

Wartburg The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the ...

in Thuringia. The dry moat with its outer rampart (the ''Vorwall'') that surrounded the castle, had a length of . This castle was built of brick, a material uncharacteristic of its time and the area. According to legend, the name is derived from

Middle Low German Middle Low German or Middle Saxon (autonym: ''Sassisch'', i.e. "Saxon", Standard High German: ', Modern Dutch: ') is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in ...

: ''An-Holt'', "(built) without wood". The castle remained occupied until the early 14th century and afterwards decayed. Early excavations were initiated by Duke

Alexius of Anhalt-Bernburg Alexius is the Latinized form of the given name Alexios ( el, Αλέξιος, polytonic , "defender", cf. Alexander), especially common in the later Byzantine Empire. The female form is Alexia ( el, Αλεξία) and its variants such as Alessi ...

in 1822. From 1901 to 1907 excavations were carried out on the site of the ruins under the direction of the Brunswick surveyor, Brinckmann. All that remains of the castle today are a few wall sections from the chapel, living quarters and outbuildings, and the base of the '' bergfried'', which is about three metres high. Large parts of the premises were restored and made accessible to the public in 2012, on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the establishment of the Anhalt principality.

Hiking

Anhalt Castle (''Burgruine Anhalt'') is checkpoint no. 197 in 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 system.

Sources

* Peter Feist: ''Burg Anhalt - Der Ort, der dem Land den Namen gab''. Kai Homilius Verlag, Berlin 1997, . * Lutz Partenheimer: Albrecht der Bär. Gründer der Mark Brandenburg und des Fürstentums Anhalt. 2. Aufl. Köln/Weimar/Vienna 2003, , p. 78 f., 256 f.

External links

Anhalt Castle

Artist's impression of the castle in medieval times

{{in lang, de Castles in Saxony-Anhalt History of Anhalt Harzgerode Castles in the Harz