Lauchstädt Castle

In a directory of the tithes of Hersfeld Abbey, created between 881 and 899, Lauchstädt is mentioned twice for the first time as a tithe-paying place Lochstat in Friesenfeld. A fief of the Dukes of Braunschweig since 1341, the settlement came into the possession of the Bishops of Merseburg in 1370, who granted the town city rights in 1430 and expanded an existing castle into a Renaissance palace in the 16th century. In 1657, Merseburg became the seat of a collateral line of the Saxon Albertines. Lauchstädt Palace served as the residence of the Dukes of Saxony-Merseburg from 1684 to 1738. The palace was redesigned between 1775 and 1780. In 1903, the west wing was replaced by a new school building. In 1906, the stair tower was built.