Ichtershausen Castle

The origins of the castle date back to 1147, when a Cistercian nunnery was founded on this site. After the dissolution of the monastery in 1539, a chamber estate was established in its place, and the former monastery church was used for Protestant services. In the same year, construction of the Old Castle began. Duke Bernhard I of Saxe-Meiningen declared Ichtershausen his residence in 1676, but moved it to Meiningen just four years later. During this period, Marienburg Castle was built, along with a fortification with two gates around the town, which no longer exists today. Marienburg Castle underwent renovation and expansion in 1710. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, the castle housed 525 French prisoners of war. From 1877, it was converted into a state prison.