Dahlen Castle

Castle ruins

Dahlen Castle (German: Schloss Dahlen) is a castle built between 1744 and 1751 in the small town of Dahlen, located in Saxony, Germany.

History

The castle was built by Count Heinrich von Bünau as a residence, on the site of a medieval manor house on the site, which was demolished to make way for the new building.

Built in the late Baroque style, the castle featured over 30 rooms and some of the finest examples of trompe-l'œil, particularly in the Grand Stair Hall. This and the ceilings of the Emperor's Hall and the White Hall were painted by Adam Friedrich Oeser, whom the Count commissioned in 1756.

The castle's most notable resident was King Frederick the Great, who at the end of the Seven Years' War lived here during the peace treaty negotiations taking place at the nearby Schloss Hubertusburg. On 12 February 1761 he signed, in the White Hall, some agreements ancillary to the Treaty of Hubertusburg that ended the war.^[1]

The castle was sold to the Sahrer von Sahr family around 1851. It remained their private residence until 1945, when the East German government removed the family, and the castle became State property. It was converted in turn to a police school, a bakery and a meat-processing school, before its short-lived restoration in the 1960s.

On 20 March 1973, a fire caused by a defective chimney burnt the castle to an empty shell.

Today

Castle ruins seen from the town park

The Dahlen Castle Association (Schloss- und Parkverein Dahlen e. V.) was formed in 2008 to head a campaign for the restoration of the castle. Through donations and events, the castle will be restored and once again be the treasure of Dahlen and the nation.

Important Rooms

• White Hall (German: Weisser Saal): this room featured walls of plaster and marble with reliefs of the Greek deities Apollo and Minerva. The ceiling was painted with cherubs and a beautiful sky scene.
• Emperor's Hall (German: Kaisersaal): this was a large ballroom used for entertaining royalty and high dignitaries. This room had a painted ceiling similar to that of the White Hall, and also featured a high ceiling and two balconies from the third floor looking into the room.

Notes

1. ^ It is sometimes claimed that the Treaty of Hubertusburg itself was signed in Dahlen Castle.

External links

• Schloss Dahlen

Coordinates: 51°22′03″N 12°59′45″E / 51.3675°N 12.99583°E / 51.3675; 12.99583