Falkenstein Castle (), also formerly called New Falkenstein Castle (''Burg Neuer Falkenstein'') to distinguish it from Old Falkenstein Castle, is a German

hill castle A hill castle or mountain castle is a castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain. It is a term derived from the German ''Höhenburg'' used in categorising castle sites by their topographical location. Hill castles a ...

in the

Harz The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, 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'' der ...

Mittelgebirge A ''Mittelgebirge'' (; German: ''Mittel'', "middle or mid"; ''Gebirge'', "mountains or mountainous area") is a type of relatively low mountain range or highland area typical of the geography of central Europe, especially central and southern Germ ...

'', dating to the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

. It is located in the town of Falkenstein between

Aschersleben Aschersleben () is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approximately 22 km east of Quedlinburg, and 45 km northwest of Halle (Saale). Geography Aschersleben lies near the confluence of the ...

and

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 ...

Location

The castle lies at a height of about above the Selke valley near the village of Meisdorf in the

district, in the German state of

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 ...

. It is located within extended forests, today a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

(''

Naturschutzgebiet A ''Naturschutzgebiet'' (abbreviated NSG) is a category of protected area (nature reserve) within Germany's Federal Nature Conservation Act (the ''Bundesnaturschutzgesetz'' or ''BNatSchG''). Although often translated as 'Nature Reserve' in Engli ...

''). Also nearby are the ruined medieval castles of Ackeburg and Old Falkenstein Castle.

History

Falkenstein was built between 1120 and 1150 by the lords of the Konradsburg who henceforth styled themselves as ''Grafen von Falkenstein'' (Counts). According to legend, Falkenstein Castle has its origins in a murder: around 1080, the

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

nobleman Egeno II of Konradsburg slew Count Adalbert II of Ballenstedt in a fight, whereupon the murderer was allegedly made to give up his family seat to be converted into a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

. As a result, Egeno's son, Burchard of Konradsburg, had the new Falkenstein Castle built. In 1220, during the reign of Prince Henry of Anhalt the Anhalt

ministerialis The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a legally unfree but socially elite class of knights, administrators, and officials in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire, drawn from a mix of servile origins, free commoners, and ...

Eike of Repgow Eike of Repgow (, also ''von Repkow'', ''von Repko'', ''von Repchow'' or ''von Repchau''; – ) was a medieval German administrator who compiled the ''Sachsenspiegel'' code of law in the 13th century. Life Little is known about Eike of Repgow, b ...

, from what is now Reppichau, drew up the ''

Sachsenspiegel The (; ; modern ; all literally "Saxon Mirror") is one of the most important law books and custumals compiled during the Holy Roman Empire. Originating between 1220 and 1235 as a record of existing local traditional customary laws and ruling ...

'' the first German

law book A law book is a book about law. It is possible to make a distinction between "law books" on the one hand, and "books about law" on the other. This distinction is "useful". A law book is "a work of legal doctrine". It consists of "law talk", that i ...

here. The book is dedicated to its commissioner, Hoyer of Falkenstein. In 1437 the castle was given as a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

by the

Bishopric of Halberstadt The Diocese of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese () from 804 until 1648."Dio ...

to the

House of Asseburg The House of Asseburg, original German name ''von der Asseburg'', is an old Lower Saxony, Lower Saxon aristocratic family which had its origin in Wolfenbüttel and Asseburg (castle), Asseburg. During the 12th and 13th centuries the lords of Wolfe ...

, in whose hands the castle remained until its confiscation after the

Second World War 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 castle was one of several backdrops in the seven-part children's series shot by

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

television, ''Spuk unterm Riesenrad'', and one of the locations for the

DEFA DEFA (''Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft'') was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout the country's existence. Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been made accessible and licensable on the PR ...

fairy tale film ''Schneeweißchen and Rosenrot'' ("Snow White and Rose Red"), as well as featuring in the ''

Polizeiruf 110 ''Polizeiruf 110'' ("Police call 110") is a long-running German-language detective television series. The name refers to the emergency telephone number of the ''Volkspolizei''. The first episode was broadcast 27 June 1971 in the German Democratic ...

'' episode ''Die Entdeckung''.

Description

The original Falkenstein Castle was built between 1120 and 1150 in Romanesque style. Although it has been modified frequently since then, notably in the mid-16th century, it still retains the character of a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

castle. The castle was protected by seven gates and five ''

zwinger A () is an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the medieval and early modern periods to improve the defence of castles and town walls. The term is usually left untranslated, ...

s''. The side at which the main attacks were anticipated had a 17 metre high

shield wall A shield wall ( or in Old English, in Old Norse) is a military formation that was common in ancient and medieval warfare. There were many slight variations of this formation, but the common factor was soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder ...

. The castle site covers an area of about 310 x 90 metres. Its

inner bailey The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer ...

, the gate and zwinger together with three

outer bailey An outer bailey or outer ward is the defended outer enclosure of a castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It protects the inner bailey and usually contains those ancillary bui ...

s cover about 40 x 40 metres. In the centre of the inner bailey is the 31-metre-high ''

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 ...

'' whose walls have a thickness of 8.5 metres at a height of 2 metres. It is used today as an

observation tower An observation tower is a tower used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, and woo ...

and is open to the public. Originally, a wooden bridge used to connect the bergfried about 9 metres above the ground to the

palas A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval '' Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson ...

located in the northwest corner. Later ( Gothic) alterations connected the buildings.

Present use

Today the castle houses a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

and is used as a venue for events. It is part of the Romanesque Road, a

tourist route A scenic route, tourist road, tourist drive, scenic byway, or holiday road is a specially designated road or waterway that travels through an area of natural or cultural beauty. It often passes by scenic viewpoints. The designation is usually det ...

. The castle has a

falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

and a restaurant that offers traditional 'knightly' food (''Ritteressen''). The castle is No. 200 in the network of hiking checkpoints known as the ''

Harzer Wandernadel The Harzer Wandernadel is a system of hiking awards in the Harz mountains in central Germany. Hikers (or mountain bikers) can earn awards at different levels of challenge by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and stamping their ...

''.

References

Harzer Wandernadel
''Stempelstelle 200 / Burg Falkenstein''
harzer-wandernadel.de
with map ''Grundriss der Kernburg Falkenstein'', ausflugsziele-harz.de

Sources

* * * * Berent Schwineköper (Hrsg.): ''Provinz Saxony Anhalt.'' In: ''Handbuch der Historischen Stätten Deutschlands.'' Band 11. Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart 1987, p. 117–118,

External links

Falkenstein Castle

Reconstruction sketch
by Wolfgang Braun

{{Authority control Castles in Saxony-Anhalt History of Anhalt Castles in the Harz Romanesque Road Falkenstein, Saxony-Anhalt Museums in Saxony-Anhalt Historic house museums in Germany