Neu-Augustusburg Castle

The foundation stone for the castle was laid on July 25, 1660, by August, Archbishop of Magdeburg and the first Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. The construction took place on the remains of an old castle complex that had been destroyed by the Swedes in 1644 during the Thirty Years' War. It is believed that Duke August had the castle built for his successor, as the Electorate of Brandenburg laid claim to the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, which would have made a future residence in Halle impossible. His son, Johann Adolf I, moved into the unfinished castle in 1680 and completed it over the next 14 years. The master builders Johann Moritz Richter and his son thus created one of the early Baroque castle complexes in the region.