Our taxi arrived promptly at the appointed hour, we first heard it, then smelt it and lastly we saw it. After a short "trot" we were at the station. (which was located on Breite Straße)
Our rubber tyred train then took us up to the top of the mountain where we walked the final 200 meters to the front doors.
Back in medieval times Schloss Wernigerode sat on a formidable defensive position perched high above the town. The first ring of defence was the wall around the town. Next, the invaders had to march up the mountain to the foot of the castle. (there was no little train back then.) When built by Count Adalbert zu Haimar
sometime between 1110 and 1120, the fortification was surrounded by a deep moat and a palisade. A drawbridge provided the only means of entry. Once there, the invaders had to fight their way through a second wall which surround the main castle.
The Battle of Crésy of course changed everything for castles, especially for the one in Wernigerode. This battle in 1346 was fought between the English led by Edward the Third and the French. The English defeated their foe, with use of a new weapon, the cannon and their longbows. It took another century however before the development of cannon technology made them powerful enough to breach the stone walls of a castle. The weakness of Wernigerode Castle was that it could be easily bombarded from the hillside behind it. This weakness diminished Wernigerode Castle's role as a defensive fort to one of a very large summer home with a great view!
The view from the hillside behind Schloss Wernigerode. After the improvements in cannon technology, this castle became useless as a fortification.
The homes of the village surrounding the castle.
We are now in the front flower gardens. The orangery is to the far right.
Changes to the political map of the area were reflected in the use of the castle. With the transferring of countships, the Stolbergs kept Wernigerode as a secondary castle but ruled from their castle in Stolberg. Count Botho III zu Stolberg-Wernigerode did have the foresight to order improvements and renovations to the castle which saved the castle and its occupants from harm during the Peasants' War of 1525.
The Count and his son Wolfgang paved the way for the Reformation in the countship. In 1539 Wolfgang who had just inherited the castle converted to Protestantism.
By the time of the Thirty Years War in 1618, the castle which now had no military significance, was left abandoned and was easily plundered by passing troops. The war ended in 1648 and the great grandson of Count Botho III took over the dilapidated estate. Count Ernst started the repairs to the old castle plus added a new baroque wing to it between 1672-76.
The front gardens were opened to the public by Count Christian Ernst.
In 1710 Christian Ernst, the nephew of Count Ernst became new owner of the castle. He chose to make it his permanent family residence. At the same time he introduced the right of primogeniture. Thinking of himself as an enlightened despot he added an orangery as well as a front garden based on those in Versailles. All these were open for the public to enjoy.
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| Add The English-style park in front of the castle.caption |
He was well versed in the teachings of Pietism and acquainted with August Hermann Francke hence his backing of the project to open a grammar school and orphanage in the town. In 1746 he opened the renowned Stolberg-Wernigerode castle library to the public. Other than changing the French-style garden to an English-style park at the end of the 18th century, the castle remained pretty much like the painting .
Schloß Wernigerode at the time when Count Otto zu Stolberg-Wernigerode assumed control of the countship in 1858.
Shortly after Count Otto assumed control of the castle he wanted a more prestigious residence. The Count was a rising political star with many personal connections to the Prussian, later German royal household. Simply put, he wanted his home to be his castle (which it was already) in this case he wanted a very,very nice castle!
Under the direction of architect Karl Frühling, the castle was rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style between the years 1862 and 1885. The first addition was the square tower, containing a grand staircase.
The inner courtyard looking at the Holzhaus.
A closer view of the outer decorative oak reliefs on the Holzhaus.
The grand spiral staircase is contained within the walls of square tower which was built between 1864-69.
The new spiral staircase.
The neo-Gothic chapel was started in 1870 and took ten years to complete. The altar and pulpit are carved from French chalkstone.
Looking towards the Schloßkirche's apse.
The chapel's organ.
The stained glass windows in the apse.
One of the most impressive rooms in the castle in my mind was the banquet hall. This room was only used for special occasions like to entertain royalty, to celebrate Christmas or some family milestone. I would image when Count Otto was made Prince in 1890 it would have qualified as one of those occasions.
The nicely restored main banquet hall.
The Hall. This is the main room for everyday family life. The staircase in the back leads to the smoking room. The newel post is covered by carving designed by Princess Anna, Prince Otto's wife.
No home in 1880 Germany would be complete without this "accoutrement".
In 1930 the Prince's family gave up the castle as its place of residence. 18 rooms were recreated to become the foundation of a museum. In 1945 the estate was confiscated by the new East German government. The state then enlarged the museum to 40 rooms by 1949. I do not know what transpired after the reunification of the two Germanys other than the huge restoration of many of the rooms in the castle. Today the Schloß functions as a historical site as well as having ample exhibition areas.
Throughout Wernigerode I had notices posters announcing an exhibit on Bismarck. I had hoped that I could see it but was resigned to the fact that I most likely would not. As it turned out, this exhibit was at the Schloß Wernigerode. What good luck!
The exhibit was great with lots of supporting artifacts to see. It was done in sections, with titles like "Young Bismarck", "Bismarck and Religion", "Bismarck and Politics", "Bismarck and the King" and so forth. One of the lighter sections was entitled, "Things Named Bismarck". Here they had interesting facts on toys, candy bars, pastries, ships and even one North Dakota, USA city*, all with the name of Bismarck.
Trivia* - In 1873 the Northern Pacific Railway renamed Edwinton to Bismarck in hopes of attracting German settlers to the
area.
The exhibit understandably was in German but I was able to read and figure out the gist of what they were trying to convey. A fair amount of the artifacts like maps and political cartoons had English on them so that helped me out greatly.
Having seen the exhibit we wandered out to the gardens and took in the view of Wernigerode. We noticed that dark clouds were rolling in from the west. I suggested the we take the train to Goslar in order to keep dry, luckily Kathleen agreed. Off to the Bahnhof we went.
"Storm clouds coming from the west, better weather in Goslar.", I told Kathleen. View of Wernigerode from the Schloß.
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