Top 20 Castles around Laucha an der Unstrut

The "Fat William" has only been called that since the 20th century. The only surviving of the original three keep towers was probably built starting in 1150. Its diameter is 14 meters; in the Romanesque period, it was at least 23 meters high. Due to its interior, it is more likely to be considered a residential tower than a pure keep. It is highly likely that the tower served as the seat of the Burgraves of Neuenburg from the House of Meinheringen in the 13th century, who are documented as "Praefectus de Nuenburg, Burggravius de novo castro" from 1215 to 1297.

The hilltop castle complex of Neuenburg Castle, located on the Romanesque Road, was once the largest castle of the Landgraves of Thuringia. Its construction, under the direction of Count Ludwig von Schauenburg of Ludowingen, known as Ludwig the Springer (1042 to 1123), began around 1090 with the first circular walls, which still stand today up to a height of eight meters in the inner castle. Over the next hundred years, the castle was reinforced and expanded in several stages. From around 1400, the castle underwent extensive rebuilding in the Gothic style, and large parts of the Romanesque structure were lost. After losing its military importance, the castle was converted into a hunting lodge for the Dukes of Saxe-Weissenfels, for which purpose a zoo and pleasure garden were created in the forest to the east. Today, Neuenburg Castle is managed by the Saxony-Anhalt Cultural Foundation.

Museum & Exhibitions High above the wine-growing town of Freyburg lies Neuenburg, the sister castle of Wartburg, founded around 1090 by the Thuringian Count Ludwig the Springer. The first mighty complex was built by 1150. The rise of the Landgraves of Thuringia was accompanied by further magnificent expansion. By 1230, Neuenburg was already around three times as large as Wartburg! The Romanesque double chapel built around 1170/75 is still an architectural gem today. On behalf of Hermann I, Heinrich von Veldeke completed the Eneasroman around 1185, the first Middle High German knightly-courtly verse epic ever. Neuenburg experienced the end of its high medieval heyday under Landgrave Ludwig IV and his wife, Saint Elisabeth.

The origin of Neuenburg is linked to Count Ludwig the Springer of Schauenburg, who was also responsible for the founding of Wartburg. One theory is that the name Neuenburg was chosen to distinguish it from the somewhat older Wartburg. The son of Ludwig the Springer was Ludwig I, the first Landgrave of Thuringia, from 1131 onwards, and during the 116 years of the Ludowinger Langraves, the castle was an important part of the court and some of the building structure dates from that time. With the extinction of the Ludowingers in 1247 and after the subsequent War of Succession, the Landgraviate passed to the Wettins, who were already Margraves of Meissen and later Dukes and Electors of Saxony at that time. Neuenburg was therefore no longer an outstanding place of residence within the Saxon state territory. Nevertheless, there was a lot of building activity and use as a hunting lodge in the 15th and 16th centuries.

The absolute highlight in Freyburg and one of the most beautiful castles in Central Germany, comparable to the Wartburg Neuenburg Castle is once the largest castle and one of the oldest and most important castles of the Landgraves of Thuringia. For Saxony-Anhalt, these are so far the only reliably verifiable above-ground stone buildings from the first half of the 12th century in castles. But the large stock of preserved masonry from the end of the 11th to the beginning of the 13th century is also of great importance beyond the Central German region. A special architectural gem is the double chapel built around 1180 with its extraordinary architectural decoration. The castle is clearly divided into two parts: on the one hand the inner castle with the so-called castle building and the kitchen master's office and on the other hand the older outer castle, which is framed by gallery wings. Source: Wikipedia

At the bus stop you will find information such as signposts

Only closed on Mondays, I must have always been there on Mondays until now🤭😉, for €1.50 you can marvel at Fat Wilhelm from the inside. It's worth it 💪

You are almost on the same level as Neuchâtel, only on the other side of the valley...