Germany · 9th century
Wettin Castle is a former castle that stood near the town of Wettin on the Saale river in Germany, and which is the ancestral home of the House of Wettin, the dynasty that included several royal families, including that of the current ruling families of the United Kingdom and Belgium.
In 982, Dedo I (d. 1009) and Frederick (d. 1017), sons of Theodoric I of Wettin, perhaps count of Hassegau, received lands taken from the Wends, including the county (or Gau) of Wettin on the right bank of the Saale. There is a legend that the family is descended from one Wettekind, but this can not be attested in any history. At least one reference claims that the castle was built by a descendant of Dietrich named Thimo.
That castle is a rebuilt ruin, used as part of a building that houses a school and other public institutions but other castles owned by the Wettin family, from the 15th century, still exist in Meissen, and on the Elbe river.
Text adapted from “Wettin Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wettin Castle ranks #1,686 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #130 of the 711 mapped in Germany. Founded 900, it is older than 94% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 88 atlas entries founded in the 9th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,760 times in the last 60 days, more than 82% of the atlas. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.
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