Doppelkapelle Sanctae Crucis

Burg Landsberg stands on a porphyry hill above the town of Landsberg in the Saalekreis. Once a stronghold, only small sections of its medieval walls remain today. The most important remnant is the stauferzeitliche Doppelkapelle St. Crucis, a twin-chapel built between 1156 and 1184. The chapel reflects the close ties between its builder, Dietrich of Landsberg, and Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa. Its architecture follows the staufische Reichsidee, and it is one of the earliest brick buildings in the region. Backstone was used for the apses of the upper chapel, a deliberate choice whose purpose remains unclear. The chapel’s north portal once featured a brick blind arch above the tympanum, now covered in plaster. Visitors find a quiet hilltop with scant ruins and the restored chapel below. The chapel’s interior shows traces of earlier restorations, including a blue-and-gold starry ceiling. Outside, the landscape still hints at the old stone quarry that once shaped the hill. The site offers a view across the Saale valley and a sense of the once-great fortress now reduced to memory.