Lichtenwalde Castle and Park

The original castle complex was built around 1230 by the Margraves of Meißen. In 1280 the castle was ruled by a knight named Heidenreich von Lichtenwalde, after whom the castle got it's name.

In the following years the estate constantly changed hands and was owned by a variety of families. In 1722 was bought by Christoph Heinrich Graf von Watzdorf, who ordered the castle to be demolished and a new, large Baroque castle to be built in its place. His son, Friedrich Carl Graf von Watzdorf, laid out a spacious park around the complex starting in 1730.

In 1905 the building was badly damaged by a major fire, which destroyed the roof and the upper floor. By 1908, the owner, Count Friedrich Graf Vitzthum von Eckstädt, had rebuilt the castle, preserving much of the original.

In July 1945, the Red Army confiscated the castle from the last owner, Sibylle Gräfin Vitzthum von Eckstädt. After the withdrawal of the troops in 1946, the Vitzthum family's collection of furniture, porcelain and paintings disappeared. The heirs have long been in dispute with major German museums over the return of paintings from the family collection.

From 1948 the castle was used as a sanatorium and later as a tuberculosis sanatorium. In 1972 a medical school was established in the building. And only in 2010, after years of reconstruction, Saxony opened a museum in the castle.

For the opening schedule, see the official website. We came to the castle in mid-October, when the autumn festival (Kürbisfestival) is held here.
























Getting there: parking lot 50.883750, 13.008306, during the festival there are parking lots here 50.882750, 13.005000 and here 50.885250, 13.005083. By bus 640 (Chemnitz-Roßwein) and on weekends in summer also by bus 642 (Chemnitz - Kriebstein, “der Zschopautaler”). The stop “Lichtenwalde Bienenstock” is about 500 meters from the castle. By train on the Citybahn 516 (terminus Braunsdorf/Lichtenwalde) Chemnitz - Hainichen with a change to the Dresden - Hof route in Niederwiesa.