Ortenburg

Bautzen, Germany, Germany

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Ortenburg in Bautzen, Saxony, Germany, is a well-preserved hilltop castle originally built on a 7th-century Slavic fort site, expanded by Henry I in the 10th century to control the Spree River valley and trade routes.

After devastating fires in 1401 and 1441, Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus—ruler of Bohemia including Upper Lusatia after 1479—ordered its reconstruction between 1483 and 1486 by Landvogt Georg von Stein into a late-Gothic three-wing complex featuring the prominent Matthiasturm gate tower with a relief of the king, chapel, and fortified walls.

Damaged by Swedish troops in the Thirty Years' War, it was rebuilt by 1635 with Baroque additions like a coffered ceiling from 1662 depicting Lusatian history, Renaissance gables in 1698, and further 18th-century expansions including a filled moat; today it serves as a hotel, restaurant, and cultural venue.