Schönfeld Castle

Schönfeld Castle is a castle in the Dresden district of Schönfeld. The Renaissance castle, built in the 16th century, dates back to a medieval moated castle.

The predecessor of the current castle was a medieval moated castle, which was built with the founding of the village of Schönfeld in the 11th century. The castle developed into the Schönfeld manor. The associated manorial lordship comprised the surrounding villages of Cunnersdorf, Gönnsdorf, Malschendorf, Reitzendorf, Rochwitz, Rockau, Schullwitz, Ullersdorf and Zaschendorf in 1535.

In 1568, the Schönfeld manor came into the possession of the electoral chamberlain and chancellor Georg Cracow, who was one of the most influential advisors to the Saxon Elector August. Under Cracow, the current Renaissance castle was built in 1573/74; above the castle's entrance portal, the coat of arms of Georg Cracow and his wife Sara Bugenhagen indicates the builders. Georg Cracow fell out of favor at the Saxon court in 1572 because, unlike Elector August, he was a follower of Calvinism. He died on March 16, 1572, from the consequences of torture suffered in Leipzig's Pleißenburg. Cracow's heirs were soon forced to sell the castle.

In the following two centuries, the electoral chamberlain Georg Schilling and the families von Loss, von Friesen, von Callenberg, Lüttichau and Solms were among the owners. In 1787, Elector Friedrich August III acquired the castle and manor and united it with the manors in Graupa, Jessen and Preschwitz to form a chamber and state estate. The estate included the villages of Bennewitz, Borkwitz, Graupa, Hinterjessen, Malschendorf, Neugraupa, Ritzendorf, Schönfeld, Vorderjessen, Wünschendorf, Zaschendorf, and part of Ullersdorf. In 1837, it was established as a court and prison, and from 1856 it served as a financial court.

In 1871, the royal district court of Schönfeld was dissolved and the castle was sold into private ownership. In 1945, it became public property. The economic basis of the former estate was lost with the division of the land among several new farming settlements. During GDR times, Schönfeld Castle served, among other things, as the seat of a newspaper editorial office, a kindergarten, and the community library.

At the beginning of the 1990s, the renovation of the castle began, which, however, proceeded only gradually due to insufficient financial resources and a long-standing lack of a viable usage concept. The interior work was also suspended for several years in the interim but has been continued again since 2008. The costs for the completion of the interior work are stated as 2.5 million euros.

Since 2005, the Art & Culture Association Schloss Schönfeld e.V., together with members of the Dresden Magic Circle, has been using the castle as a venue for public magic shows and as a museum of magic, which also displays props from the famous magician Fredo Marvelli.