Fürstenhof Castle

The Fürstenhof was built in two construction phases. The older part of the building, also known as the Alter Hof, was erected around 1512/13 in the late Gothic style for Duke Heinrich V. This wing adjoined St. George's Church and featured cross vaults and ogee arch windows on the ground floor. The Neue Hof, a three-story plastered building, was constructed in 1553/54 under Duke Johann Albrecht I for his wedding. For this new building, designed by Gabriel von Aken and Valentin von Lyra based on Upper Italian models, an older banqueting hall had to be demolished, though its walls were partially reused. The facades of the Neue Hof were decorated with terracotta relief panels from the workshop of Statius von Düren, depicting motifs from classical mythology and biblical parables.