Imposing and mysterious, Rochlitz Castle watches over the town of the same name. Its walls can tell a thousand years of history - of emperors, kings and princes, but also of those who had to provide for their welfare.
Today Rochlitz Castle stands as an authentic medieval complex whose heyday dates back to the 14th and 15th centuries. Its face is dominated mainly by the two defensive towers called "Jupen" and the unique red porphyry cliff.
In addition to a regular museum tour, the castle team invites you to discover the history and try many things during a journey into the past.
Schloss Rochlitz History
The imperial castle of Rochlitz was presumably built in the mid-10th century as part of the castle complex in the March of Meissen. At the turn of the millenia, the castle was given to the Ekkehardingers. The castle owes its first documented record in 1009 when it was burned by Margrave Gunzelin. When ownership was transferred to Margrave Konrad I of Wettin in 1143, its time as the imperial castle of Rochlitz ended.
Rochlitz was to be connected during the following centuries with the rise of the Wettin. Thanks to the consolidation of the village by Margrave Conrad's son Dedo, the castle and the bailiwick saw a sharp rise from 1156. With the development of Rochlitz Castle to become a permanent residence of Margrave Wilhelm I in the late 14th century, the fortress was transformed into "sloß" Rochlitz, i.e., Rochlitz Palace. At the end of the 15th century, the Wettin Ernst and Albrecht further renovated the castle as a widow's home for their sister, Duchess Amalia.
One of the most important figures of the Reformation was also based at Rochlitz Castle: Duchess Elizabeth of Rochlitz. Against the wishes of her father-in-law, Duke George the Bearded, and in spite of all other ill will, she immediately introduced the Reformation in the territory of Rochlitz.