Wolfsberg Castle

The castle ruin Wolfsberg is located on a hill in Wolfsberg in Saxony-Anhalt. Only a few foundation remnants of the extensive medieval castle complex remain.

It is assumed that Wolfsberg Castle, like the neighboring Questenberg Castle to the southeast, was built by the Counts of Beichlingen-Rothenburg around the year 1300. Around 1309, it came into the possession of the Counts of Anhalt-Bernburg, who mortgaged the castle. The new lords of the castle were hostile to their neighbors, the Counts of Stolberg, and damaged their possessions. After a legal ruling in his favor, Count Heinrich of Stolberg resorted to self-help around 1320 and captured Wolfsberg Castle. To secure the conquered property against the claims of the House of Anhalt, he enfeoffed it to Bishop Albrecht of Halberstadt, who officially enfeoffed him with Wolfsberg Castle, in addition to Erichsberg Castle, on December 18, 1325.

At the end of 1326, Wolfsberg Castle served as an object of atonement in the disputes over Ebersberg and Erichsberg castles. In later years, it was mortgaged several times by the Counts of Stolberg, but always with the option of redemption. Wolfsberg and Erichsberg always remained a fief of the Bishopric of Halberstadt.

The castle complex was damaged in the Peasants' War in 1525. It had already been dilapidated before, as in 1511, repairs to the roof and masonry were carried out on behalf of the Stolberg count's bailiff, Volkmar von Morungen. A report from the Wolfsberg bailiff Michel Sultzpach to Count Wolfgang of Stolberg from 1549 states that for 2,000 guilders, the house Wolfsberg, along with barn and stables, "was rebuilt." This leaves open whether this referred to the castle or the manor house of the Wolfsberg domain, which was built from 1524.

Wolfsberg was also mortgaged several times in the early modern period and finally fell into ruin in the 18th century due to a lack of maintenance measures.