Schloss Jahnishausen, Castle in Riesa, Germany

Schloss Jahnishausen is a castle and former manor house about four kilometres south of Riesa in the Jahnatal valley. The present building goes back essentially to the 16th century, with changes from the 1786 restoration and the conversion ordered by Georg Wilhelm von Hopffgarten; a fire in 1970 left part of it in ruins. A park with a castle pond and broadleaf trees surrounds it.

A water castle probably built in the first half of the 13th century stood here; from the early 15th century it belonged to the von Schleinitz family. After the castle was abandoned, the present Schloss Jahnishausen was built essentially in the 16th century. It was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War and sold in 1645 to the von Kötteritz family, passing in 1676 to Freifrau von Reichenbach and in 1718 to the counts of Callenberg. A fire caused severe damage in 1730; Christoph Dietrich von Plötz had it restored in 1786, and Georg Wilhelm von Hopffgarten ordered a conversion and the building of a tenant house and gatehouse. Prince Johann of Saxony bought it in 1824 and used it mainly for his studies; the estate stayed with the Saxon royal house until 1945, the last Wettin owner being Ernst Heinrich von Sachsen.

Since 2002 the estate has belonged to the Lebenstraum Gemeinschaft Jahnishausen, an ecologically oriented cooperative founded in 2001. The castle itself was transferred to the Academia Danteska Jahnishausen e.V., which as an association may accept donations. Members restore the buildings while respecting monument protection and use them for flats, communal rooms, studios and workshops.

The castle stands about four kilometres south of Riesa in the Jahnatal valley, surrounded by the former Schlosspark with its pond and broadleaf trees. The building is cared for by the Academia Danteska Jahnishausen association, which restored the structures while keeping the monument protection rules; the grounds now hold flats, communal rooms, studios and workshops. Since the site is in active use, visitors should contact the association before coming.

The castle passed to the Academia Danteska Jahnishausen e.V. shortly after the estate was auctioned in 2002, reportedly for 1 euro, because an association, unlike the cooperative, may accept donations. The Herrenhaus housed a kindergarten, after-school care and a school until 1969; a fire in 1970 left part of it in ruins, and it stood empty from 1980.