Randau Castle

The region around Randau was inhabited as early as the Middle Stone Age. Later findings indicate a Slavic settlement with a ring fort. Around 1160, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa settled Dutch colonists on the “Elbenauer Werder”. The first documented mention of Randau Castle occurred in 1236. In the late 13th century, the Lords of Randau used the castle for raids, which led to its conquest and destruction by Magdeburg troops in 1297. From 1391, the Alvensleben family from Rogätz acquired the castle and estate as an archiepiscopal fief. After the Rogätz line died out, Andreas von Alvensleben introduced the Reformation. Kuno von Alvensleben had a new castle built after 1609, but it burned down in 1631 during Tilly's destruction of Magdeburg. Johann Friedrich Karl von Alvensleben relocated the estate in the 18th century to its current site and built a new residence with geometric gardens.