Castle and palace complex in Bernburg

We hadn't heard of Bernburg and came here by chance, saw an advertisement on the autobahn. The town turned out to be very nice, it has an old town, a huge castle-palace and a river with an embankment.

We parked upstairs in the old town. The town and castle have been undergoing extensive renovations in recent years, which is already finished.








Entrance to the castle grounds is free, it's quite a large area and you can walk around. The courtyard is huge, one of the largest in Germany.




The castle was first mentioned in 961 and, as you can see, consists of buildings from many different centuries. Big changes took place in 1538, when Prince Wolfgang von Anhalt-Köthen (1508-1566) rebuilt the castle. After that, the castle belonged to different owners, but it always remained a secondary residence and therefore was not rebuilt. It is now a fine example of Renaissance architecture.

The castle houses the local museum and the town court.










The Eulenspiegel Tower is the hallmark of the city of Bernburg. It was built in the XII century and has a height of 44 meters. Named in honor of Till Eulenspiegel, a hero of medieval Dutch and German legends.




Castle Garden










In 1860, a pit for a brown bear was built, which eventually became a landmark. The bear has now moved to the local zoo and the pit can be seen in the photo from wikipedia.

The viewpoints offer views of the Saale River.


After walking around the castle grounds we walked down to the river, where a ferry took us to the other side for a small fee.




On the other side of the river is the zoo and you can stroll along the promenade to the nearest restaurant, which offers the best views of the castle.


Getting there: you can park on the promenade 51.793361, 11.733194 or along the streets in the old town. There is a Bernburg train station.