Museum Schloss Wolkenstein

Description

The Wolkenstein Castle Complex is a building complex with a diverse and regionally significant history. Constructed as a protective fortress before 1200 and as one of the smaller starting points for the settlement of the Ore Mountains, it became the main seat of the Waldenburgs along with Waldenburg and a district of the Electorate of Saxony. With the decline of the Waldenburgs in the 15th century, the Wettins took over the castle and expanded the complex into a Renaissance hunting lodge. The castle emerged as it still exists in its basic form today. However, over the following centuries, several renovations were made. Today, our visitors can tour the south wing and the medieval residential tower. Currently, it is still possible to take a tour through our old permanent exhibition, which is based on the local heritage room of the city´s local heritage association founded in the 1960s. The permanent exhibition is currently being modernized step by step, and new spaces are being made accessible. It is now possible to visit the tower hall without a guided tour, where a new exhibition informs about the history of our city. For this purpose, we were able to borrow the last existing cabinet from our beautiful castle from the Erzgebirgs Museum Annaberg-Buchholz, a 17th-century chancery cabinet. Our special highlight is our newly designed Amethyst Vault. It serves as the intro to our extensive amethyst collection. Two more rooms will be developed for this, providing space for geology, mineralogy, and numerous everyday topics about amethyst. As Wolkenstein held high jurisdiction, a torture chamber with an "Angstloch" (fear hole) was integrated into the south wing in the 16th century. There, our visitors learn a lot about the Wolkenstein district and the judiciary of the early modern period. Myths are also debunked. The judiciary of the Waldenburgs is currently a research focus and will be added to the exhibition later.