Castle Map

Castle

Mildenstein Castle

Germany · 9th century

Founded
900
Heritage status
Kulturdenkmal
Location
Leisnig
Coordinates
51.1623°, 12.9255°
Links
OpenStreetMap · Wikimedia Commons · Plan
Open on the map →Official website ↗Wikipedia ↗
Mildenstein Castle in Germany
Photo: Jungpionier · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Mildenstein Castle, in German Burg Mildenstein, also called Schloss Leisnig, is located in Leisnig in Landkreis Mittelsachsen, Saxony, Germany. It is a property of the Free State of Saxony and is administrated by the company State Palaces, Castles and Gardens of Saxony.

The castle is located on a spur above the river Freiberger Mulde, at the northern edge of the town of Leisnig proper and opposite the village of Fischendorf. The rock is a former lava dome and consists of pre-mesozoic rhyolite, in particular the so-called Leisniger Quarzporphyr.

There is archeological evidence for an ancient settlement on the rock spur above Freiberger Mulde.

Mildenstein castle was probably built in the 10th century. However, it was first mentioned only in 1046 when Emperor Heinrich III gifted the Burgwards of Colditz, Rochlitz, and Leisnig to Agnes of Poitou. In 1084 the castle was enfeoffed by Emperor Heinrich IV to Wiprecht of Groitzsch. In 1143 it went by marriage to Franconian earl Rapoto von Abenberg, Stiftsvogt of Bamberg, who sold it in 1148 to Duke Friedrich III of Schwaben who later became known as Emperor Barbarossa. The latter made the castle in 1158 an imperial property, tied to the office of the Emperor and enfeoffed to the Burgraves of Leisnig. As such, it became a governing centre of the Imperial Territory of Pleißenland.

In the early 13th century the castle was the seat of the imperial ministeriales family von Mildenstein who had to give up their properties in the area after they lost a dispute over the entitlement to tithes from former church properties, and Margrave Henry the Illustrious captured the castle in 1232.

The Burgraves of Leisnig founded Buch Abbey in 1192 and acquired the lordship of Mutzschen before 1308. They became one of the most powerful families in the area. Burgrave Otto I of Leisnig, together with his father-in-law, Burgrave Albrecht IV of Altenburg, also gained the lordships of Lauterstein (1323) and Waldheim (1324), and inherited the lordship of Rochsburg from the latter in 1329. However, the joined Ämter Leisnig and Altenburg fell to Margrave Frederick the Serious after Albrecht IV died in 1329. The Leisnigs lost their imperial immediacy, were forced to sell their burgraviate in 1365, kept only their possessions around Rochsburg and Penig and died out in 1538.

Text adapted from “Mildenstein Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Mildenstein Castle ranks #5,371 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #484 of the 927 mapped in Germany. Founded 900, it is older than 94% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 89 atlas entries founded in the 9th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,534 times in the last 60 days, more than 67% of the atlas. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Dresden, 58 km away. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.

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