Felsenburg Neurathen

Description

Rising in the striking Bastei rock formations near Rathen is the rock castle Neurathen, a medieval ruin within the Saxon Switzerland National Park on the territory of the municipality of Lohmen above the Elbe valley. Neurathen occupies an outstanding position among the rock castles of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains and shapes the landscape around the Bastei and the Mardertelle.

The site lies on a rock ridge up to about 100 metres wide on the north bank of the Elbe. The castle rocks consist of silica-cemented quartz sandstones of the Schrammstein Formation; their rugged, steeply falling edges and partly woolsack-weathered summits determined the style of construction. Many building components were cut directly into the sandstone or built as half-timbered structures on beam supports, which is why today mainly hewn rooms, passageways, beam holes and an impressive cistern are visible.

The written record begins in the Late Middle Ages; Neurathen appears in a document in 1289, and for a long time the castle belonged to Bohemian feudal lords. After turbulent conflicts, control changed hands several times and finally passed in the mid-15th century to the Saxon territorial lords, with the complex losing its function in 1469 following a siege and fire. Soon afterwards the buildings fell into ruin; remains were later again used as shelters for the population in times of war.

Archaeological investigations began in 1906 and were continued in several phases into the 1980s. Excavations exposed the battlement walk, cellars, a hall building and the cistern; reconstructions based on these finds present parts of the castle as an open-air museum. Today visible are the rock chambers, beam sockets, wall remains, the developed cistern with gravel filtration, as well as reconstructed walkways executed in metal.

Because of rock instabilities the site has been temporarily closed since September 2023. Discussions about conservation tasks and the existing lease have influenced the future of the complex; the lease held by the municipality of Lohmen was terminated in April 2025, and a reopening is not currently foreseeable.