Schloß Jessen

Germany, Germany

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Schloß Jessen is a historic round castle in Jessen (Elster), Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, originating as a late 12th-century motte with a wooden tower that was expanded in the early 13th century by Archbishop Wichmann of Magdeburg into a brick ringwall fortress roughly 34 meters in diameter.

Acquired by Elector Frederick the Wise in the early 16th century and bequeathed to his illegitimate sons who took the name von Jessen, the site evolved into an 18th-century two-story structure following the original layout, with a north wing heightened in 1752 and 19th-century additions like an octagonal tower and a 1706 alliance coat of arms at the main portal.

Used as a textile factory in the late 19th century and serving as Prussian headquarters in 1813, it now houses the town administration since 1999 under monument protection.