Geleitshaus Weißenfels, Renaissance monument in Weißenfels, Germany.
The Geleitshaus Weißenfels is the first completely stone-built secular building in Weißenfels, erected in 1552 in Renaissance style by chancellor Hieronymus Kiesewetter at Große Burgstraße 22. Its upper floor holds the Gustav-Adolf-Museum, whose diorama of the Battle of Lützen was built by the Weißenfels teacher Max Brauer with 10,000 tin figures. The ground floor has housed the Irish pub "Battlefield" since 2006.
The building was constructed in 1552 by Hieronymus Kiesewetter as a government office providing armed escort services for travelers. A century later, following the Battle of Lützen in 1632, it became the place where Swedish King Gustav II Adolf was prepared for his final rest.
The name Geleitshaus comes from the escort duty (Geleit) performed here from 1555, when travellers hired armed soldiers to accompany them to the next stop and paid tolls and road fees on site. Since 2006 the ground floor has housed the Irish pub "Battlefield", a name chosen to match the Gustav-Adolf-Museum above.
The building sits in central Weißenfels and is easily reached on foot using the street address at Große Burgstraße. It combines well with other local sights since it lies within the historic town center, making a walking tour practical and manageable.
During the autopsy of Gustav II Adolf in 1632, the pharmacist Casparus König is said to have spilled some of the king's blood on the wall right by the entrance; legend holds that it is still visible there today. The museum opened in 1932, on the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Lützen, and its diorama by the Weißenfels teacher Max Brauer uses 10,000 tin figures.
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