Augustusburg Hunting Lodge

The hunting lodge Augustus castle was built in the years 1568 to 1572 above the same city on the Schellenberg 516 m above sea level. NN built on the northern edge of the Ore Mountains ( Germany ). The conspicuous castle is a landmark; they do is about 12 km east of Chemnitz and about 21 km south-west of Freiberg in Saxony.

Elector Augustus wanted the new building of his castle not only a representative residence for his hunting trips, but also underline its leading position in Central Germany. The immediate cause for the construction goes back to the victory in Grumbach Handel. The Albertine Elector August was the Middle and the outlaw knight Wilhelm von Grumbach, who found refuge by the full lines of the imperial ban on his Ernestine rival Johann Friedrich Johann Friedrich, secure its supremacy over the Ernestinians. He also received the offices Weida, goats back and Arnshaugk, who belonged to the later New Town district. Due to the good economic development of the electoral Saxony under Moritz and August the financial conditions were given for the construction of the castle.

Prehistory

Until the construction of the hunting lodge was located at the same spot, an older castle of the von Schellenberg.

This was built around 1210 /30 and awarded by the so-called Schellenberger feud in 1324 to the House of Wettin and further expanded in the late 14th century. So a kennel wall and cistern with cistern house was built. The castle was badly damaged in 1528 and 1547 due to fire and lightning strike. An illustration in the altarpiece of the castle church could represent the former Schellenburg, but is unoccupied.

The design of the castle was attributed to long time the master builder and mayor of Leipzig Hieronymus Lotter. But it is clear that in the appointment Lotter's already a finished model of the castle existed. He is only granted the role of a top architect of current knowledge, who built for finished designs. The two made ​​by him plans are based on the already finished wood model. The noted amendments rejected the elector from the most part. The fashion in the Italian style with straight flights of stairs ( instead of the usual spiral staircases ), and details in the design of roofs his influence to be assigned. Laboratory studies show the designs of parts of the north portal and the chapel of the hunting lodge by Erhardt van der Meer, the chief foreman Lotter. First upper foreman on construction until his death in 1568 Paul Wide man.

According to current knowledge, the overall conception is most likely created the court of the Elector Augustus, under the supervision of the architect Hans Irmscher. Since the sources with respect to the authorship have on the designs to the castle Augustusburg gaps, this August is even attributed. Busy is the great interest of the electors to questions of civil engineering and architecture. His library contained many architectural magazines and pattern books of components. The architecture of the castle had no reference to the traditional palace buildings in the rest of Saxony. Rather, it can be assumed that the elector was inspired in his library for his model of the theoretical writings.

Architectural History

For the highest construction of Elector won the mayor of Leipzig Hieronymus Lotter in August of 1567. With the foundation stone should be started in the same year, after the castle was demolished Schellenberg. By the early onset of winter, however, only the pit was dug. Then began the masonry work until March of the following year. In the first built in the summer house with fully decked roof was built.

The remaining corner buildings rabbit, Linden and kitchen house and the chapel were built in the following year 1569.

The north and south portal and the associated connecting tracts were completed winterized in the third Year with a temporary roof. The gallery wing, the summer with connecting the the rabbit house, Lotter also began in 1570th August, disappointed by the slow progress of the construction project, ordered that the Linden, the summer and the kitchen house were finished by the end of the year. At the same time he instructed the court painter Heinrich Göding to start with the decoration of the interiors. At the end of two of the six images ceilings of the castle and 23 apartments were designed in color.

Stark upset about the progress, despite completion of Gallery tract, the Church and the gatehouses, and the sharp rise in construction costs dismissed the Elector Hieronymus Lotter in 1571 and handed over to the standing in his service Florentine Rochus Guerrini Count Lynar further supervision of the construction process. The altarpiece in the finished work to residual Castle Church painted Lucas Cranach the Younger.

The festive inauguration took place on 30 January 1572. During the year, the builders and painters completed yet remaining interior work and the establishment of a clock and bell tower on the south portal. One years, the bridge and guard houses in front of the north gate emerged later.

After many unsuccessful attempts to bring water to the Schlossberg, 1568-1577 a well was dug into the rock by the Freiberg Meisterhans planner. The hard work resulted in first miners, and later caught poachers. Only in the depth of about 130.6 m - today Depth - water could be found. This fountain is on the on the fortress Königstein the second deepest in Saxony.

In the stairwell of the Museum of Hunting Animal and ornithology a hunter figure stands with a dog made ​​of sandstone. They were created in 1600 by Conrad Buchau († 1657) for the Saxon Jägerhof in Altendresden where the other original characters from the museum stand in the foyer of Saxon Folk Art, and was erected at about 1900 to 1952 Grill Castle.

Current

The castle currently houses next to restaurants and a youth hostel, a motorcycle museum, a carriage museum and a museum of hunting wildlife and ornithology.

At Schloss castle was Augustus from 18 August to 11 November 2012 " Udo. The exhibition " to see. She was devoted to the complete works of the musician and artist Udo Lindenberg and showed in 14 rooms more than 500 lindianische exhibits. Previously, the exhibition at Schloss Neuhardenberg and the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Hamburg as a guest.

The hunting lodge Augustus Castle is a selected site for the intended candidacy for UNESCO World Heritage mining region Erzgebirge.

Personalities

• Sophie Sabina Apitzsch (1692-1752), impostor, was taken in 1714 here in prison
• Würkert Ludwig (1800-1876), Protestant pastor, writer and revolutionary who was imprisoned here in 1849
• Hans Seifert (1889 - unknown), Nazi politician, SA chief officer, head of Augustus Gauschulungsburg on the castle, where he also lived
• Fritz Roessler (1912-1987), Nazi politician, head of Augustus Gauschulungsburg on the castle, later under the name of Dr. Franz Richter Member of the Bundestag

Gallery

North gate from the inside

Inner south gate from the inside

South Gate from the outside

Pump room