Hubertusburg Castle Wermsdorf

Named after the patron saint of hunting, Hubertusburg Castle is one of the most mature achievements of Saxon Baroque architecture. It is the largest and once most magnificent country castle in Europe. The complex was built by Lieutenant Colonel Johann Christoph Naumann (1664 - 1742), who enriched the art history of the state with numerous buildings in the Saxon region, including in Leipzig and Bautzen.

Between 1739 and 1751, the main building of the castle was rebuilt under the direction of the Oberland master builder Johann Knöffel. It was his last building and can be regarded as one of his major works.

A number of important artists were involved in the design of Hubertusburg Castle, such as the sculptors Lorenzo Mattielli, Benjamin Thomae and Gottfried Knöffel, the painters J. B. Grone, J. A. Pöppelmann, Chr. W. E. Dittrich and the painting theorist A. F. Oeser.

The castle's interior was designed by a number of important artists. Oeser.

The main building with the supposed castle tower is particularly impressive. However, it is not a tower, but a high, four-sided ridge turret that rests on the wide central risalit. With its almost oversized large sound holes and the onion dome, which is crowned by a leaping stag as a weather vane, it is somewhat reminiscent of the crown gate of the Dresden Zwinger, but is much slimmer and more graceful.

Only the preserved Catholic castle chapel of St. Hubertus still bears witness to the former splendor of the castle today. All other room furnishings were looted in 1761 in retaliation for the partial devastation of Charlottenburg Berlin (by Austrian, Russian and Saxon troops during the Seven Years' War) and subsequently altered.

The Hubertusburg Peace Treaties, signed by Saxony, Prussia and Austria on February 15, 1763, ended the Seven Years' War. As a result, the name of the castle went down in European history. The end of the Seven Years' War also meant the end of the so-called "Augustan Age" for Saxony. Just a few months after signing the peace treaty, Elector Friedrich August died on October 5, 1763.

Guided tours of Hubertusburg Castle can be booked through the Wermsdorf tourist information office.

Janke exhibition:

The museum "Karl Hans Janke - Genius and Schizophrenia" is located in the grounds of Wermsdorf's Hubertusburg Castle and provides an impressive insight into Janke's life's work. In addition to photographs, letters and drawings, film clips and flight models up to four meters tall are on display.

Karl Hans Janke was admitted to the Hubertusburg Psychiatric State Hospital in Wermsdorf on 8 November 1950. The diagnosis: "chronic paranoid schizophrenia" with the symptom "delusional inventions". Janke was a patient with undoubted technical talent, an artist and designer. He tinkered and drew, gave lectures and corresponded with companies and public institutions. During his stay until his death in 1988, he created over 4000 drawings, models and photographs.

Contact:         

• Schloss Hubertusburg
  
• Building 21
• 04779 Wermsdorf
  
• Tel.: 034364/549840
• Mail: ausstellung@karl-hans-janke.de
• Web: www.karl-hans-janke.de
• Opening hours: Tuesday - Friday 13:00 - 17:00; Saturday/Sunday  12:00 - 17:00 (Opening hours may change at short notice. It is therefore advisable to call in advance)