Wolfersdorf Castle

At the site of the current castle, a princely hunting lodge already existed at the beginning of the 16th century, but it was destroyed in the Schmalkaldic War in 1547. Elector Johann Friedrich I then commissioned the architect Nikolaus Gromann in 1547 to build a new hunting lodge. Between 1548 and 1550, an L-shaped, two-story half-timbered building on a stone base was constructed, equipped with heated rooms and chambers. A wooden stair tower provided access to the upper floors. After his release from captivity in 1552, the Elector met his family in Wolfersdorf and named the castle “Fröhliche Wiederkunft” (Joyful Return). In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was actively used as a hunting lodge by his successors, before hunting parties shifted to Hummelshain Castle around 1650, and Wolfersdorf Castle began to fall into disrepair. Between 1858 and 1865, the castle was restored and renovated in Neo-Gothic style on behalf of Duke Joseph of Saxe-Altenburg.