Built at the behest of Dietrich von Beerwalde over 600 years ago. The highlight of the castle is the monumental residential tower with its late-medieval bartizans and ridge turret.

Visitor Information

• Address: Kriebsteiner Straße 7, 09648 Kriebstein, Germany
• Hours: Tuesday to Friday 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM; Saturday and Sunday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM (Closed Mondays)
• Admission: Full rate is 8,00 EUR; reduced rate is 7,00 EUR. [1, 2]

Key Features & History

• Architecture: Built starting in 1384 by Dietrich von Beerwalde, it combines a tower castle and a ringwork castle perched on a steep cliff over the Zschopau River. [1, 2, 3]
• Highlights: Visitors can tour the late-Gothic chapel, the Kriebstein Room with its original murals, and a treasure vault containing artifacts hidden until 1986. [1, 2]
• Film and Culture: The picturesque site has served as a filming location for movies like The Grand Budapest Hotel and various fairy tale adaptations. [1]

Kriebstein Castle

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Burg Kriebstein in German is a castle in Kriebstein near the town of Waldheim in the state of Saxony, Germany. The rock on which the castle stands is separated from rising ground behind it by a man-made section of ditch, the so-called Halsgraben. Typologically the Kriebstein is a combination of a tower castle a Turmburg and a ringwork castle a Ringburg with an oval ground plan. Dominating the whole site is the monumental keep perched atop the highest crag. With its sides measuring 22 x 12 metres, the tower, including its weather vane, reaches a height of 45 metres. Its late medieval oriel turrets and the flèche give the castle a unique and thus unmistakable silhouette. Around the keep are grouped the tower-shaped gatehouse, the curtain wall with its domestic wing, the kitchen and other buildings including the chapel wing. On the east side of the chapel wing is the double-bay, cross-ribbed vaulted Gothic hall and the rear of the castle. This building complex, immediately above the steep slopes over the Zschopau river, has a continuous upper storey dating to the 17th century. The Late Gothic kitchen building is attached directly to the keep at the centre of the castle. The whole is enclosed by a domestic wing, that was used as a great hall and contained the well house as well as the northern defensive wall that joined onto the gatehouse. The Great Hall today is used as a concert and event chamber; weddings also take place at this amazing Olde World gem.