Blankenhain Castle () is a large

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

Blankenhain Blankenhain is a town in the Weimarer Land district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is south of Weimar. History Until the Napoleonic Wars, Blankenhain had been a part of the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar. After the Fourth Coalition's defeat at Jena and Auer ...

near

Crimmitschau Crimmitschau () is a town in the district of Zwickau (district), Zwickau in Saxony, Germany. Geography Crimmitschau lies on the river Pleiße in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains. Neighboring municipalities Adjacent communities includ ...

, in the district of Zwickau in

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 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The castle dates back to the 12th century. It is first documented in 1423 as ''Wasserburg''. Half of it burned down in 1661 and was rebuilt in 1699 (some sources say 1700). In 1765 the castle acquired its current

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

appearance with

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...

and domed towers. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

regime ordered the castle destroyed, but it was saved by the intervention of courageous locals. Since 1981, the castle and the surrounding land have been developed as an open-air museum of agriculture and rural life in central Germany between 1890 and 1990. The museum covers 11

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s, including 60 buildings.

External links

*
Blankenhain Castle Museum website
Castles in Saxony Museums in Saxony Open-air museums in Germany Buildings and structures in Zwickau (district) Crimmitschau {{Saxony-struct-stub