Schloss Wittenberg, Electoral castle in Wittemberg, Germany

Schloss Wittenberg is the former residence of the Saxon electors, rebuilt from 1489 and largely finished by 1525 as a rectangular complex of wings around a courtyard. The photograph shows a tall cylindrical tower with a white lower section, a dark upper section and a green copper spire bearing the inscription "EIN FESTE BURG IST UNSER GOTT", a long tan stone facade with rows of rectangular windows, and a shorter plain round stone tower with a shallow orange roof. Since the 2013–2018 restoration the ground floor of the core building holds an information centre for the UNESCO World Heritage site, and the upper floors hold the research library on Reformation history.

A castle at Wittenberg is documented in 1187; around 1340 an Ascanian castle rose on the present site, and this was demolished in 1489. When Frederick the Wise became elector in 1486, he had a residential palace built, erected from 1489/90 in two stages: the south and west wings first, then the Schlosskirche as north wing from 1496. The work was largely finished by 1525.

The castle owes its name to the Saxon electors, whose residence it was from 1486; Frederick the Wise began the rebuild. Since 2018 the ground floor has housed an information and meeting centre for the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Schlosskirche, reached through a new passage linking castle and church.

Access to the upper floors is by stairs, so comfortable shoes are a good idea before visiting. Starting with the information center on the ground floor gives a clear overview of the building before heading further inside.

The research library on the upper floors opened in spring 2018 and brings together the book and archive holdings of the Evangelisches Predigerseminar and the Stiftung Luthergedenkstätten in Sachsen-Anhalt. Its partners are the seminar, the foundation, the university library of Halle and the Leucorea foundation. The Predigerseminar also keeps study rooms and a winter church on the top floor.