Albrechtsburg

The Albrechtsburg is a late Gothic palace built between 1471 and 1495 in Meissen, a town on the Elbe. It stands on a rocky plateau above the river, next to Meissen Cathedral. The castle replaced an earlier Slavic fortress built in 929 by King Henry I. In the 10th century it became the residence of the Margraves of Meissen. The Wettin dynasty later expanded it into a grand palace for their sons Ernst and Albrecht. The palace was never fully used as a court because the brothers divided their lands in 1485. Construction paused until 1521, when Duke Georg completed the interiors with vaults by Benedikt Ried and reliefs by Christoph Walther I. In 1710 Augustus the Strong turned the empty castle into Europe’s first porcelain manufactory. After the factory moved out in the 19th century, the building was restored and opened to visitors. Inside, the first floor holds two large halls: a dancing hall with many windows and a heated banqueting hall with a tiled stove. Three apartments surround these rooms, each with a parlour and sleeping chambers. The Great Staircase Tower leads up with winding stone steps around an open centre. Outside, the castle’s hook-shaped plan and tall lucarnes on the roof create a striking silhouette above the Elbe.