Seifersdorf Castle

Seifersdorf Castle, located in the village of Seifersdorf north of the Dresden city limits in the Bautzen district, is a castle built around 1530, which was rebuilt in the Neo-Gothic style according to plans by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel from 1818 to 1826. Surrounding Seifersdorf Castle is a designed castle park, whose program continues in the design of the Seifersdorf Valley by Christina von Brühl.

Building

Already in the first half of the 12th century, a wooden moated castle was built at the current location of the castle. After its destruction by fire, a stone building was erected in the area of today's ballroom on the ground floor. This was supplemented in the 13th century by the addition of a gatehouse, today's west entrance. In a fourth phase, the building was extended to the east and later supplemented by a building oriented symmetrically to the existing south wing. The reconstruction by Karl Friedrich Schinkel connected the two parts and supplemented the outlines to obtain an approximately symmetrical floor plan. A U-shaped floor plan was created with a three-sided enclosed courtyard of honor on the east side, which is connected to the castle park by a stone bridge. The castle park was also redesigned in the English style during the reconstruction.

The east side with the courtyard of honor and the concluding crenellated gate wall as well as the flanking turrets bears the character of a medieval castle. The west side, on the other hand, with its iron balcony above the entrance gate, the cuboid tower, and the circular driveway, is oriented towards 19th-century English country estates.

Owners

After the extinction of the von Grünrod dynasty in 1747, the Saxon Elector Frederick Augustus II transferred the property to the Saxon Prime Minister Heinrich von Brühl. His son Moritz von Brühl lived temporarily with his wife Christina von Brühl in the castle at the end of the 18th century. From 1781, she had a landscape garden laid out in the Seifersdorf Valley.

Carl von Brühl, as the next owner, had the castle fundamentally redesigned by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. After the end of the war in 1945, Seifersdorf Castle was nationalized. In the following years, the municipal office of Seifersdorf, a school, and a kindergarten were established in the castle. The school later moved to another building, the municipal office was abandoned as a result of the municipal reform with Wachau. The kindergarten was closed in 2004 despite citizen protests.