Schloss Schwarzenberg
The short dream of freedom
When at dusk the moon rises behind the towers of the St. Georgen Church and the castle, when torches and lanterns illuminate the path up to the castle and the cacophony of minstrels and traveling folk echo through the alleys of the old town, that is when Schwarzenberg reveals its entire magic.
The origins of the castle and its unusual wooden inner structures have been lost during its 850-year history. Founded in 1150, it was first documented in 1282. After the loan to the impoverished castle lords from the Saxon Elector Duke Johann Friedrich had become due and could not be repaid, Johann Friedrich‘s successor August began to build the current hunting lodge in 1555. Later it functioned as a county court, with its watchtower as a secure jail.
The visitor is attracted to the castle not only by the school of folk art but also by the museum, which devotes as much space to the special Ore Mountains craft of lace-making as to metalworking which is so important for the region. Children can enjoy a colorful knight‘s world in the creativity section and can develop new ideas in the tower, while the wind carries the tunes from the music school over the walls and across the landscape. But it is not only the castle and the magnificent ”farmers‘ Baroque“ of its church which makes Schwarzenberg a worthwhile destination for a day out. A hopeful but bitter episode in German history also makes the town especially interesting: Immediately after the Second World War the inhabitants waited in vain for six weeks for the arrival of occupation forces, and dreamt of being able to decide their own lives in the ”Free Republic of Schwarzenberg.“ An illusion, which would all too quickly disappear.
Address
Schloss Schwarzenberg | Kulturzentrum des Landkreises Aue-Schwarzenberg
Obere Schlossstraße 36 | D-08340 Schwarzenberg
Phone: +49 (0) 3774 505851
kultur.schloss@t-online.de
www.kulturhaus-aue.de
Co-operating partner of State castles, palaces and gardens of Saxony
