Wernigerode Castle

Wernigerode, Germany, Germany

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Wernigerode Castle is a striking hilltop landmark overlooking the town of Wernigerode in Germany's Harz Mountains, originally built as a medieval fortress around 1120 by Count Adalbert II to secure imperial interests during hunting expeditions.

Enlarged in late Gothic style by the 15th century and rebuilt as a Renaissance fortress in the 16th, it suffered damage in the Thirty Years' War before Count Christian Ernst transformed it into a Baroque residence in 1710.

The castle gained its iconic neo-Romantic historicist appearance between 1862 and 1893 under Count Otto zu Stolberg-Wernigerode, featuring red-brick facades, ornate towers with onion domes, intricate interiors with Flemish tapestries and wood carvings, and ever-changing silhouettes from different angles, now housing a museum of princely life.