Machern Castle

Machern Castle is a moated castle complex in the eponymous town of Machern in the district of Leipzig. Its oldest parts most likely date back to the 16th century.

According to an inscription on a door lintel, the once two-winged building was erected in 1566. The cross-rib vaulted rooms on the ground floor and the round stair tower in the courtyard's lower section point to this period. However, an older predecessor building was already incorporated into the castle's construction.

Machern Castle was built as a moated castle. During the construction of the first German long-distance railway from Leipzig to Dresden in 1838, an approximately 3-kilometer long trench was cut through the Machern heights. This severed water-bearing layers in the soil, and the water surfaces around the castle eventually dried up.

Over the centuries, it was rebuilt and extended several times. After the Thirty Years' War, it received its current form as a three-winged Baroque complex. According to an inscription on the large castle tower bell, renovation work was completed in 1733, after which the castle received its present appearance. For example, the stair tower was raised to 21 meters. The rule of the von Lindenau family, who guided the fortunes of Machern until 1802, began as early as 1430. The last Imperial Count, Carl Heinrich August von Lindenau, inspired by his numerous travels abroad, laid out the English-style gardens adjoining the castle to the east and north at the end of the 18th century.

When the last owner of the castle – a Leipzig merchant family – was dispossessed and expelled by the communists in 1946, it became communal property. A cultural center, restaurant, and apartments were established and used by the municipal office and village school. In 1981, a fire destroyed the roof structure in the east wing, and decay due to neglected maintenance became increasingly evident.