Brandenburg Castle

The castle hill was already settled in the pre-Roman Iron Age. The existence of Brandenburg can be traced back to 1224, when Count Ludwig II of Wartberg also named himself after Brandenburg. In 1279/80, Albert II of Brandenburg sold the lordship to Landgrave Albrecht II the Degenerate, who passed it on to his son Apitz in 1290. By the 14th century at the latest, the complex consisted of two independent castles, the Lower and Upper Castle, which, with brief interruptions, always had different owners. The East Castle, also known as the Upper Castle, was a landgrave's fief of the Lords of Heringen from 1322 and then frequently changed hands until it belonged to the Lords of Herda zu Brandenburg from 1415 to 1892. The West Castle, also known as the Lower Castle, was owned by the city of Erfurt from 1306 and was later also pledged to the Lords of Heringen. From 1411, the Lords of Reckrodt took over the West Castle and held it until 1703. After the Thirty Years' War, the castles lost their military significance and fell into disrepair, even serving as a quarry.