Altenstein

Burg Altenstein stands on a rocky spur 450 metres above sea level between Schweina and Bad Liebenstein in the Thüringer Wald. Built of stone in the early 12th century, it was one of the first stone castles along the middle Werra valley. The site commanded the edge of the Breitungen march and the start of the Schweinaer Straße, an old trade route across the mountains, giving it strategic importance. The castle passed from Fulda Abbey to the Franconian knights of Stein, who lost it in the 12th century to the rising Frankenstein family. By the 13th century a rival fortress, Markgrafenstein, was forced upon the hill opposite by the Ludowing landgraves. The older Burg Altenstein was later called Schloss Altenstein and still showed its medieval form when Martin Luther passed it in 1521 on his way home from the Diet of Worms. During the Peasants’ War the Markgrafenstein was seized and destroyed by rebels, while the Altenstein remained untouched. In 1554 a mercenary band plundered and ruined the castle, and rebuilding began in modest Renaissance style. After a fire in 1733 the dukes of Sachsen-Meiningen replaced the ruins with the present Baroque palace. Archaeologists have uncovered parts of the vanished medieval castle beneath later gardens and terraces. Excavations revealed a deep cistern, burnt grain and pottery fragments, and the remains of a brewhouse drying kiln dating from the 13th to 15th centuries. Finds include a bottle from about 1900, showing how the cistern was later filled in. The terraces of the new palace now cover the old forecourt where these traces were found. Visitors walk among these remains while enjoying views across the Thüringer Wald.