The Konradsburg is a former castle, monastery and manor house near Ermsleben in the German federal 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 ...

Castle

Konradsburg was first mentioned in 1021 and was originally built to protect the imperial demesne ('' Reichsgut'') of 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 ...

.''Konradsburg''
at www.konradsburg.com. Accessed on 6 Mar 2011. However it has no

fortified tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with defensive walls such as curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of ...

s, keep (''

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 ...

'') or great hall (''

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 ...

'') to indicate that it was a fortified castle site.

Monastery

After 1120, the

Konradsburg The Konradsburg is a former castle, monastery and manor house near Ermsleben in the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. Castle Konradsburg was first mentioned in 1021 and was originally built to protect the imperial demesne (''Reichsgut'') ...

s left this fortified hill spur, which lies about 3 kilometres south of Ermsleben and about eight kilometres west of

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 ...

, built Falkenstein Castle in the Selke valley and called themselves Falkensteins from 1142. On the Konradsburg a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

abbey was founded which became the spiritual and economic centre of the area for several centuries. According to tradition, the conversion of the castle into a monastery had been a reparation imposed on

Egeno II of Konradsburg Egeno II of Konradsburg (also spelled ''Conradsburg'') was a free knight of Konradsburg, in the northeast of the Harz region in Central Germany, near Ermsleben. Egeno II may have been the son or grandson of Egeno I of Konradsburg. Around 1080 (af ...

for murdering

Adalbert II, Count of Ballenstedt Adalbert II of Ballenstedt ( – 1076/1083), an early member of the House of Ascania, was ''Graf'' (count) in Saxony and ''Vogt'' of Nienburg Abbey. Life Adelbert, first mentioned in a 1033 deed, was born at Ballenstedt Castle in the Saxon Sch ...

around 1080. In 1477 the monastery was given to the

Carthusians The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called the ...

and became Konradsburg Charterhouse. As a result of the

German Peasants' War The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt () was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It was Europe's largest and most widespread popular uprising befor ...

, the monks gave up the monastery of Konradsburg in 1526. Existing structural and excavated remains have revealed the extent of the former monastery. Of the original three-aisled Romanesque

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

, the high

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

and its underlying

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

have been preserved. Despite its simplicity, the chancel conveys a sense of the impressive size of the ancient basilica. The crypt is a five-aisled, groined vault, supported by columns and pillars. Capitals and imposts, decorated with architectural ornaments (''Bauzier'') showing a wide range of influences (e.g. Rhenish-French), are testimony to the architecture of the 13th century. The main features of the buildings next to the church can be made out from the east and north wing of the enclosure (''Klausur'').

Manor house

In 1712 the Konradsburg was put to agricultural use as the manor house for an estate, or ''Domäne'', until 1945. In the centre of the old cloister stands the well house, a two-storey,

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

building, probably from the 18th century. The well is over 45 metres deep, probably dating to the time of the monastery and has a technical showpiece - a donkey gin (''Eselstretrad''). The other buildings were constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries for agricultural purposes.

Post 1945

After 1945, it was used for a short time for agricultural purposes by a private farmer. Efforts by the town of Ermsleben and the Catholic Church in Aschersleben were unable, under the circumstances prevailing at the time (the site lay in Communist

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

), to prevent the increasing neglect and dilapidation of Konradsburg in the 1970s, a time characterised by a rapid decline in its appearance.

Conservation and tourism

Since 1982 young people have been involved in the conservation of the Konradsburg. From 1984 to 1988 it was supported by students of the Faculty of Art Science of the

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

. The decline of the site was halted and part of it was opened to the public. On 1 June 1990 the initiative of the Society for the Promotion of the Konradsburg (''Förderkreis Konradsburg'') was founded to look after the castle site. In the years that followed, several endangered historic buildings in the vicinity were also taken over by the society, renovated and utilised, for example, the tower windmill at Endorf, the old brick factory at Wieserode and the forester's house at Friedrichshohenberg. In 1994 the society was accepted by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

into its Treasures of the World project. Since 2003 the society has run a sheep-farming business at the foot of the castle. The Konradsburg is a stop on 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, ...

. The Konradsburg remains open to the public and has a cafe. It is also checkpoint 201 on 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 ...

hiking trail network.

References

External links

Website of the Society for the Promotion of the Konradsburg

Artist's impression of the castle in medieval times
{{Authority control Castles in Saxony-Anhalt Monasteries in Saxony-Anhalt Carthusian monasteries in Germany Romanesque architecture in Germany Romanesque Road History of Anhalt Falkenstein, Saxony-Anhalt Abbeys and churches in the Harz Museums in Saxony-Anhalt Roman Catholic churches in Saxony-Anhalt