Burg Beyernaumburg

Germany, Germany

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Burg Beyernaumburg near Allstedt in Saxony-Anhalt's Mansfeld-Südharz district, Germany, is a partially preserved medieval hilltop castle first documented in the 9th century as "castellum Nivanburg," initially serving as a Reichsburg before passing to Count Wichmann von Gleuß-Seeburg in the early 12th century, then to the Magdeburg archbishopric and Lords of Querfurt.

Owned by the von Asseburg family from 1430 until 1628 and the von Bülow family until 1945 expropriation, it famously sheltered Harz-region Templars in 1308 during their persecution, enduring a siege by Erzbischof Burchard III. that prompted a rare inter-church ban.

The dilapidated fortress was largely demolished in 1865 by Victor von Bülow and rebuilt as a neo-Gothic palace with a preserved 30-meter Vorburg tower, Renaissance gatehouse, and 19th-century park by Eduard Petzold, now functioning as a senior care home.