Bornstedt Castle

Bornstedt Castle, also known as Schweinsberg, Schlossburg, Schweinsburg, is the ruin of a hilltop castle on a height in the Hornburg Saddle east of the municipality of Bornstedt in the Mansfeld-Südharz district in Saxony-Anhalt.

The castle presumably belonged to the great imperial castles or a fortified settlement as early as the 8th century and was mentioned around 880 in the Hersfeld tithe register as "Brunstediburg". In the 12th century, the Lords of "Bornstete" or "Burnstede" were owners of the castle, where Emperor Henry V stationed troops in 1115 during the battles at Welfesholz with the Saxons. The first owner named after the castle from 1120 was Esico II. dominus castri Burnstede, who is mentioned in Erich Brandenburg, Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen, page 77. The coat of arms of still living descendants of Bornstedt is the red crenellated wall with the Ares (wall breaker) above it. After changing owners, the castle came into the possession of the Counts of Mansfeld from 1301 to 1780. From 1615, the castle began to fall into disrepair.

Name

The often-mentioned name Schweinsburg/Schweinsberg goes back to a story according to which the inhabitants of the castle, during a siege, did not slaughter the last pig, but made it squeal loudly several times a day to pretend that they were slaughtering many pigs daily. This demotivated the attackers, and the siege was broken off.