Blankenburg Castle

Blankenburg, Germany, Germany

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Blankenburg Castle is a Baroque residence crowning a limestone hill above Blankenburg in Germany's Harz Mountains, originally built around 1123 by Emperor Lothair of Süpplingenburg as a strategic fortress overlooking key trade routes.

Held by the Counts of Regenstein-Blankenburg until 1599 before returning to the Welf House of Brunswick-Lüneburg, it endured sieges, fires—including a devastating 1546 blaze—and reconstructions, culminating in its 1705-1718 transformation by architect Hermann Korb into a stately palace with elegant halls, an octagonal royal church, and landscaped grounds.

Expropriated from the Hanoverian dukes in 1945, it later served institutional uses and now stands as a museum hotel blending 800 years of noble legacy with panoramic Harz views.