Kemenate Ziegenrück

The Kemenate Ziegenrück stands above the winding Saale river in the deep valley between the Bleiloch and Hohenwarte reservoirs. It was once the living tower of a medieval castle perched on a rocky spur with sheer drops on three sides. The castle controlled the river crossing on the old north–south road and its defensive ditches still divide the site into three parts. The present stone house dates from the 15th century and measures 17 by 13 metres with walls up to 1.8 metres thick. Inside are a cellar and four floors, lit by uneven windows and topped by regular arrow slits under the eaves. A taller bergfried once stood here but was taken down in 1775; its foundations can still be traced. The building belongs to a rare group of Thuringian broad residential towers that includes similar keeps at Reinstädt and Orlamünde. Visitors walk past the old ditches to reach the compact stone house. Inside, the thick walls and small rooms show how the lord’s family lived above the river. Outside, the steep slopes drop to the Saale and the reservoirs stretch away upstream and downstream. The remains of the bergfried’s base mark the spot where the castle once commanded the valley.