Schloss Ballenstedt

High above the town of Ballenstedt sits the baroque residential palace on the "Romanesque Road" in Saxony-Anhalt. Ballenstedt Castle is the town's landmark. The authentically restored ensemble is a tourist highlight in the Harz Mountains and consists of the following buildings:

• Ballenstedt Castle
• Castle tower
• Castle church
• Tomb of "Albrecht the Bear
• Castle park
• Castle mill
• Stables
• Castle Theatre
• Great Inn

Exhibitions and sights

The ground floor of the south wing houses an exhibition on the early days of the Ascanians. On the upper floor, the exhibition "Courtly Living" shows in seven rooms the life and living situation of the Ascanian family around 1900. The Ballenstedt Castle Film Museum in the north wing offers an insight into over 100 years of film and cinema history. Also worth seeing are the castle tower, the Romanesque crypt and the exhibition on the hunting and forestry history of the forest in Anhalt.

Castle park

The famous Prussian landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné (1789-1866) created the castle park, one of the "Garden Dreams - Historical Parks in Saxony-Anhalt". The 29-hectare landscape park is home to valuable old trees. With the terraced water axis, the landscape architect incorporated the fashion of the time for Italian terracing. The design of the palace park is one of Lenné's most accomplished works of old, characterised by a masterful combination of high-level architecture with the natural landscape of the Harz Mountains. Popular photo motifs are the "Schwedenstein" on the castle pond and the iron lion in the western part of the park.

Palace theatre, stables and mill

The palace theatre was built in 1788, followed by the classicist Marstall in 1810. The Ballenstedt Palace Theatre, the oldest theatre in central Germany, offers performances in a variety of genres. It was once the workplace of Franz Liszt and Albert Lortzing. The castle mill, built in 1785, has been restored to its former glory. Situated in the middle of the castle park, it now houses the studio and gallery of sculptors Esther Brockhaus and Marcus Hennig.

Grand Inn

Prince Victor Friedrich had a hunting lodge and armoury built at the palace in 1732-1733 to store hunting equipment. The gable of the imposing three-storey building is decorated with a relief of two stags. The servants and guests of the par force hunts used to live here. In 1765, Friedrich Albrecht had the hunting lodge converted into the "Great Inn". The Walloon master builder Martin Peltier de Belfort built a round redoubt hall with a gallery. More and more, the "Great Inn" became the centre of courtly life in the residential town of Ballenstedt. The dilapidated building was demolished in 1995/1996 and rebuilt as a hotel in 1997. The "Bernstein Schlosshotel Ballenstedt" belongs to the Bernstein Hotels & Resorts.

Wedding Location Ballenstedt Castle

The castle offers a fairytale setting for an exclusive wedding:

• Wedding ceremony in the castle church
• Wedding ceremony in the "White Hall" in the castle
• Wedding ceremony in the castle hotel, in the banqueting hall or in the monastery parlours

History of Ballenstedt Castle

The ensemble in its present form dates largely from the 18th century. It was built on the former castle and monastery complex from the 11th and 12th centuries. The church wing with castle tower and crypt was built on the foundations of the monastery church in 1748. The tomb of the famous Ascanian Margrave Albrecht the Bear (ca. 1100 - 1170) and his wife Sophie is located there. Later, further buildings were added to the ensemble.

The Ascanians

Ballenstedt Palace was once the residence of the Princes of Anhalt-Bernburg and the summer residence of the Duchy of Anhalt. Built on the former castle of the famous Ascanians, the Counts of Ballenstedt, it was the residence of the Princes of Anhalt-Bernburg and the summer residence of the Dukes of Anhalt. The Ascanians were an old Saxon high noble family in what is now Saxony-Anhalt. Uta of Ballenstedt (around 1000-1046) is world-famous. The Ascanian was a co-founder of Naumburg Cathedral and the sculpture Uta of Naumburg is one of the 12 donor figures in the west choir of the cathedral.