Bieberstein Castle (German: ''Schloss Bieberstein'') is located on the left bank of the river Bobritzsch in Bieberstein, part of Reinsberg municipality, in

Landkreis In 13 German states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a '' Gemeinde'' (municipality) is the () or (). Most major cities in Germany are not part of any ''Kreis'', but instead combine the functions of a municipality and a ''K ...

Mittelsachsen Mittelsachsen (, ) 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 2008. Geog ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

. A nobleman Günther von Bieberstein who named himself after the castle was first mentioned in a document of 1218. A

bergfried ''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Italian: ''torrione''; Castilian: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries an ...

with square footprint reminds of the medieval castle which was later transformed into an

early modern The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

castle. The latter was joined to the medieval bergfried into a contiguous building around 1600. Originally, the castle consisted of two parts called Ober- and Niederbieberstein. It was successively acquired by various members of the family von Schönberg. After 1650 parts of the lower castle were dismantled. Gotthelf Friedrich von Schönberg (1631–1708), counsellor of the Saxon prince-elector, bought the castle in 1656, had most of its upper part pulled down to the foundation walls in 1666 and had it rebuilt into its present-day shape. The outside staircase on the western side and the interior stairway with four flights were built between 1710 and 1720. Bieberstein castle served as a

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...

until 1992. It was acquired by Maritta Rogalla von Bieberstein Koch-Weser wife of Caio Koch-Weser, and is now used as a conference centre.

References

Castles in Saxony {{Germany-castle-stub