Burgruine Karlsfried

Zittau, Germany, Germany

---

Burgruine Karlsfried, near Zittau in Saxony, Germany, was a short-lived 14th-century hilltop castle built in 1357 on Emperor Charles IV's orders atop the former Neuhaus Slavic fortress to serve as a fortified customs post and escort station along the vital Gabler Straße trade route from Bohemia to Upper Lusatia.

Managed initially by Burgrave Ulrich Tista of Liebstein and later leased to Zittau city from 1364, it featured a compact layout with right-angled buildings, a rectangular tower, high ring walls, and a lower outer bailey gate securing merchants against bandits for a toll.

Burned and ruined by Hussites in 1424, rebuilt under Emperor Sigismund, it was fully demolished by Zittau in 1442 to prevent robber baron abuse, with its stones repurposed for local buildings into the 18th century.