Kleines Schloss, Cultural heritage château in Blankenburg, Germany

The Kleines Schloss is a small Rococo building at Schnappelberg 6 in Blankenburg, at the foot of the Burgberg. It was rebuilt from 1777 in sandstone ashlar, with a two-and-a-half-storey street facade, three bays crowned by curved gables, and a hipped roof. Because of the slope, the garden side is only one-and-a-half storeys high.

Built in 1725 as a timber-framed orangery and princely garden house for Duchess Christine Luise, it was rebuilt from 1777 in sandstone ashlar in Rococo style. From 1914 to 1918 it served as a residence of the Welf family; in 1917 Friederike, later Queen of Greece, was born here. After 1945 it became public property and housed the town museum from 1948.

The name Kleines Schloss distinguishes it from the Große Schloss nearby. The street facade carries the initial C for Duke Karl I of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, who had the house rebuilt in sandstone from 1777. Since 2022 two rooms hold a permanent exhibition on the Blankenburg castle gardens and the Welfs.

The Kleines Schloss stands at Schnappelberg 6, at the eastern foot of the Burgberg, with the Schlossgärten to the south and the Sühnekreuz in front of the north side. The tourist information desk inside is the starting point for the Harzer Wandernadel stamp office. The street-side facade is plain and can be read from the pavement; the garden side is only one and a half storeys because of the slope.

The copy of the Braunschweiger Löwe in front of the garden facade was placed there in 1953; it was originally on the terrace of the Große Schloss. The large sculpture faces Braunschweig, the former capital of the duchy to which Blankenburg belonged until 1945.