Burg Altrathen

Rathen, Germany, Germany

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Burg Altrathen is a medieval rock castle ruin near Rathen in Germany's Saxon Switzerland, strategically positioned on a sandstone spur above the Elbe River to control vital trade routes, with first records around 1245 under Heinrich der Erlauchte and explicit mention in 1261.

It changed hands through Bohemian nobles like the Berka von der Duba and Peter von Michelsberg before Saxon forces under Electors Ernst and Albrecht besieged and burned it between 1467 and 1469 during conflicts with robber barons, leading to its long decline.

By 1888, industrialist Eduard Seifert purchased the remnants and rebuilt it in romantic Neogothic style by 1893, later used as a holiday home after nationalization, preserving its core structure amid the scenic Elbe Sandstone Mountains today.