Siebeneichen Castle

Siebeneichen Castle in Meißen was built in the 16th century by Ernst von Miltitz. The castle is located on the southern bank of the Elbe, opposite the Spaargebirge, upstream from Meißen's old town in the Siebeneichen district. The property is situated on Siebeneichener Straße, which runs as Federal Highway 6 to Dresden. To the west runs State Road 177.

The complex was first mentioned in 1220. A noble family named themselves after Siebeneichen in the 12th century. The name probably comes from Slavic.

Between approximately 1553 and 1555, the Electorate of Saxony's councilor and court marshal Ernst von Miltitz erected a three-story Renaissance castle building with two corner towers and dormer windows, which is still largely preserved. In 1591, his son Nickel von Miltitz had a walled Renaissance garden with water features laid out.

In 1748, under Heinrich Gottlob von Miltitz, the castle was extended on the west side with a three-wing building, which has a nine-axis show facade and a high mansard roof. At the beginning of the 19th century, Sarah Anna Constable, the wife of Dietrich von Miltitz, had a 35-hectare landscape park laid out according to English models, which is now one of the oldest in Saxony.

Siebeneichen Castle was an important center of Romanticism in Saxony. Heinrich von Kleist, Novalis, and Johann Gottlieb Fichte, among others, frequented it.

Later estate owners included Alfred von Miltitz from 1880 and his son Ludwig Carl from 1912. In 1945, the castle was expropriated and the estate was divided among new farmers. From 1946, the castle was used as a natural history museum and later as a technical college.

Siebeneichen was incorporated into Meißen in 1978. Since 1997, it has been the seat of the Saxon Academy for Teacher Training.