Schloss Dryfels, Medieval château ruins in Berga-Wünschendorf, Germany.
Schloss Dryfels is a castle ruin near Berga-Wünschendorf in Thuringia, Germany, situated on a mountain spur above the White Elster River valley. The complex originally contained residential buildings and defensive structures, of which today only wall remains and archaeological traces survive.
The 1216 charter records Berga an der Elster, not the castle; a knight of Berga is known by 1225. In 1310 Otto von Lobdeburg-Berga appeared as a landgrave's witness, and in 1358 the Vogtland War brought the castle to the Landgrave of Thuringia. It was pledged to Heinrich the Red of Weida in 1378 and passed to the Wettins in 1445.
The location served as a center of local power for centuries under different noble families. Its transformation from fortress to agricultural facility shows how such places changed purpose over time.
The 1760 tenant house burned on 8 March 1994, and the fire and extinguishing water caused severe damage to the masonry. Large parts of the burnt-out ruin were demolished at the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 for traffic safety; the foundations and castle cellar remain. The site is not presented as a visitor attraction, so check locally before approaching.
The round bergfried that once stood on a rock at the centre of the complex was 45 metres high with walls 3 metres thick, and it was demolished in 1767. On the south-west side a bricked-up gate marks the original entrance, which was later moved to the east.
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