Castle Pfaffroda, Cultural heritage château in Pfaffroda, Saxony, Germany.
Castle Pfaffroda is a stone fortress in Saxony's Erzgebirge region, sitting at roughly 540 meters above the valley below. The building shows different building styles from various periods, visible in its walls and towers.
Cistercian monks from Osek founded the Pfaffroda estate in the early 13th century; it was first recorded as a knight's manor in 1512. Caspar von Schönberg and Barbara von Bünau built the Renaissance castle between 1575 and 1578, and its southwest gable still carries their alliance coat of arms. After 1945 the family was expropriated and the castle became state property; in 2017 two sons of Hubertus Diener von Schönberg bought it back for 60,000 euros.
The Kultur- und Sozialzentrum Schloß Pfaffroda runs an exhibition on the castle's history in the east wing, the former stable. In Advent, a Christmas market is held in the castle courtyard. The castle park and nearby ponds draw visitors in summer.
The castle stands on a rocky spur above the Bielabach stream in the south of Pfaffroda, part of the town of Olbernhau. The exhibition on the castle's history is run by the Kultur- und Sozialzentrum Schloß Pfaffroda in the east wing, the former stables. In summer, visitors also use the castle park and the ponds laid out nearby.
In 2002, during work on the exhibition rooms in the east wing, eight matchlock muskets from 1660 and a gilded armour collar of Elector Johann Georg II from 1664 were found. The muskets were attributed to the castle's own armoury; the collar belongs to the Dresden armoury, which had stored it here from 1943 for protection.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,911 contributors worldwide.