Gnandstein Castle

Frohburg, Germany, Germany

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Gnandstein Castle in Gnandstein near Frohburg, Saxony, Germany, is Saxony's best-preserved Romanesque fortress, built around 1200–1230 by the von Schladebach family on a porphyry rock above the Wyhra River valley as a rectangular ring wall with a residential tower.

Expanded by 1250 with a round keep, a representative four-story Palas from 1220–1230 featuring a hall with Romanesque triple windows, and later Gothic south wing, it passed to the Burgraves of Leisnig in 1317 and the von Einsiedel family from 1409 who owned it for 500 years, adding late Gothic elements around 1480–1500.

Damaged by Swedish troops and lightning in the Thirty Years' War, it saw 18th-century Baroque updates before becoming a museum in 1932, now showcasing medieval treasures, a chapel, and knights' hall amid its ancient aura.