Giebichenstein Castle () is a castle in Giebichenstein district of

Halle (Saale) Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East Berlin, East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chem ...

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

, Germany. It is part of the

Romanesque Road The Romanesque Road () is a scenic route in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt in central-east Germany. It is part of the Transromanica network, a major European Cultural Route since 2006. Route The route takes the form of a figure-of-eight, ...

(''Strasse der Romanik''). Being a

Burgward A burgward or castellanyArnold, Benjamin (1991). ''Princes and territories in medieval Germany'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, p. 165. . was a form of settlement used for the organisation of the Marca Geronis, northeastern ma ...

in the 9th century, the castle became a royal residence of

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Francia, East Frankish (Kingdom of Germany, German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son o ...

, who gave it to the

Archbishopric of Magdeburg The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Catholic Church, Latin Catholic archdiocese (969–1552) and Prince-Bishopric, Prince-Archbishopric (1180–1680) of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River. Planned since 95 ...

which he had established in 968. Giebichenstein Castle served as the place of death or lying in state for three bishops: Bishop

Adalbert Adalbert is a German given name which means "noble bright" or "noble shining", derived from the words ''adal'' (meaning noble) and ''berht'' (shining or bright). Alternative spellings include Adelbart, Adelbert and Adalberto. Derivative names incl ...

in 981, Bishop

Tagino Tagino (died 9 June 1012)Thompson, 644. was the third Archbishop of Magdeburg from 1004 until his death. Tagino was a chaplain of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, when, in 995, the See of Regensburg became vacant. He was the duke's candidate for bishop ...

in 1012, and later that same year, Bishop

Walthard Walthard (or Waltaro) (died 12 August 1012) was the Archbishop of Magdeburg very briefly from June to August in 1012. Walthard was the initial archiepiscopal candidate of the cathedral chapter on the death of Archbishop Giseler in 1004, but Kin ...

. In addition, Giebichenstein was used by King (later Emperor)

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

as a state prison for members of the high nobility. Among the imprisoned were such notable figures as

Henry of Schweinfurt Henry of Schweinfurt (''de Suinvorde''; – 18 September 1017) was the Margrave of the Nordgau from 994 until 1004. He was called the "glory of eastern Franconia" by his own cousin, the chronicler Thietmar of Merseburg. Henry was the son ...

(in 1004), Ezzo of Este (1014–1018), Ernest of Swabia (1027–1029), and

Godfrey the Bearded Godfrey III ( – 1069), called the Bearded, was the eldest son of Gothelo I, Duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine. Biography Disputed succession By inheritance, Godfrey was Count of Verdun and he became Margrave of Antwerp as a vassal of t ...

. According to legend, the Thuringian Landgrave

Louis the Springer Louis the Springer (), sometimes called Louis the Jumper or Louis the Leaper, was a German nobleman and count in Thuringia from the death of his father until his own death on 8 May 1123. Little is known about him, although he is mentioned in many ...

, founder of the Ludovingian dynasty, was also imprisoned at Giebichenstein, although there is no historical evidence to support this. The significance of the castle is further emphasized by the presence of Henry IV at Giebichenstein in 1064. In 1157,

Frederick I Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aa ...

convened an assembly of princes at the castle. The decisive transformation of Giebichenstein from a burgward to a sovereign territory of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg took place under Archbishop Wichmann (1154–1192). Wichmann issued several charters at Giebichenstein starting in 1154. The oldest excavated wall remains on the upper castle also date from this period. A cohesive construction project on the previously undeveloped rocky outcrop included a gate tower, a curtain wall, and a southern tower. In addition to the narrow entrance through the massive Romanesque

gate tower A gate tower is a tower built over or next to a major gateway. Usually it is part of a medieval fortification. This may be a town or city wall, fortress, castle or castle chapel. The gate tower may be built as a twin tower on either side of a ...

, there was apparently a second entrance on the eastern side. Another tower stood on the southern side. In 1215, King Frederick II is said to have besieged Giebichenstein Castle. Historians attribute the cause to the conflict over the German throne between Frederick II and

Otto IV Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218. Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 1196 ...

of the

Welf dynasty The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconian family from the Meuse-Mo ...

. At that time, Archbishop

Albert I of Käfernburg Albert I of Käfernburg (; – 15 October 1232) was Archbishop of Magdeburg from 1205 until his death. He was the son of Count Gunther II of Käfernburg (d. about 1197), a member of the Thuringian nobility and relative of the comital House of ...

had sided with the Welfs. The outcome of the fighting is unknown, but around that time Otto IV lost his remaining allies and was forced to abandon his claims to the throne. Halle had practically reached a state of political

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

in 1263. The same happened with

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

and when the archbishops finally left Magdeburg, after a series of conflicts with the ever more powerful city council, Giebichenstein Castle became their principal residence in 1382, which it remained until the archbishops moved into the newly built

Moritzburg (Halle) The Moritzburg is a fortified castle in Halle (Saale), Germany. The cornerstone of what would later become the residence of the Archbishops of Magdeburg was laid in 1484; the castle was built in the style of the Early Renaissance. Since t ...

in 1503.

The lower castle

Under Archbishops Günther II and Friedrich III, the lower castle (German: ''Unterburg'') was built between 1445 and 1464. Prior to this, Günther II had sold the castles of

Bad Lauchstädt Bad Lauchstädt (; until 1925 ''Lauchstädt''), officially the Goethe Town of Bad Lauchstädt (), is a town in the district Saalekreis, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, 13 km southwest of Halle. Population 8,781 (2020). Lauchstädt was a popular wat ...

, Liebenau, and

Schkopau Schkopau () is a municipality in the Saalekreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Geography It is situated at the confluence of the Saale River with its White Elster and Luppe tributaries, approx. north of Merseburg, and south of Halle. ...

to finance the construction. No archaeological evidence of a predecessor to the lower castle has been found; however, it is assumed that an outer bailey or an economic courtyard must have existed for such an important castle. The curtain wall with flanking towers, the moat, and the inner perimeter buildings were constructed as part of a unified building project. Only the eastern curtain wall, apart from the gatehouse, remained free of buildings. During the reign of Archbishop Johannes, the granary (''Kornhaus'') was built, standing freely in the castle courtyard. As early as around 1500, the residential buildings were repurposed for economic use: the

brewhouse A brewhouse is a building made for brewing beer and ale. This could be a part of a specialized brewery operation, but historically a brewhouse is a private building only meant for domestic production. Larger households, such as noble estates, o ...

was added to the south side of the west wing of the lower castle, and the Mushaus at the northern end was converted into a

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

. In 1706, the baroque manor house (Herrenhaus) was constructed on the eastern side of the lower castle. Administrator Ochs had a stone bridge built — a predecessor of today's Giebichenstein Bridge — and transformed the moat and old castle grounds into a park. The lower castle is one of the two campuses of the Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle (Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design).Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule. Geschichte
Retrieved 15 May 2019 Founded in 1915, the university saw itself as an alternative to the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

(founded in 1919), with a somewhat stronger focus on

craftsmanship Workmanship is a human attribute relating to knowledge and skill at performing a task. Workmanship is also a quality imparted to a product. The type of work may include the creation of handcrafts, art, writing, machinery and other products. Workma ...

. However, it also cooperated with the Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Berlin (KPM), which established an experimental studio in Halle.

References

Castles in Saxony-Anhalt Landmarks in Germany Romanesque Road Buildings and structures in Halle (Saale) {{SaxonyAnhalt-struct-stub