Schwarzburg Castle

Situated on a long mountain ridge and surrounded by the river Schwarza, the Schwarzburg castle was one of Germany’s most imposing castles until 1940. Its almost 1000 year old history came to an abrupt end, when the Nazi government within two years tried to turn the building into a guest house for the Reich and in 1942 abandoned the plans and left it as a ruin.

Despite various plans for the reconstruction of the former ancestral castle of the house of Schwarzburg little has changed until today.

On August 11, 1919, while on holiday in Schwarzburg, Friedrich Ebert — the first Reichspräsident of Germany — signed the Weimar constitution, the first democratic constitution of Germany.

Since 1994 the entire complex of the Schwarzburg castle belongs to the foundation Stiftung Thüringer Schlösser und Gärten. In the past 14 years the foundation has invested €4.8 million in the protection and reconstruction of the buildings.

In 2007, the club of supporters of the Schwarzburg castle (Förderverein) donated €50.000 to the foundation to secure the building. The reconstruction should be completed in 2010.

The foundation started in 2007 by securing the building to prevent further damages and planning further building activities. In 2009 the reconstruction work will begin, costing an estimated €800.000. The same amount is necessary to prepare the building to host a museum.

Parallel to the construction works the Thüringer Landesmuseum Heidecksburg is renovating the valuable collection of weapons and armor, which is still - with few exceptions - completely preserved. It is the common goal of the foundation, the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, and the museum to present the collection at its place of origin.