Castle Schleinitz

Nossen, Germany, Germany

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Castle Schleinitz stands on a rocky spur above the Freiberger Mulde valley in Nossen, Saxony, Germany, originally founded around 1185 by the Knights of Nuzzin as a water castle before passing to the Bishops of Meissen in 1315 and later to Altzella Monastery.

First documented as a noble seat in 1231, it was owned by the von Schleinitz family from 1255 to 1594, who rebuilt it in the late 15th and early 16th centuries into a late Gothic structure with two round towers linked by a defensive wall, blending military and representational elements without full water moat use. 

Subsequent owners like von Loß, von Bose, and von Zehmen added Renaissance halls, a stone bridge over the former moat in 1781, and early 20th-century expansions including a two-story hall, making it a cultural center, hotel, and exhibition space today under state management.