Ilsenburg House

Ilsenburg House (German: Schloss Ilsenburg) stands in the town of Ilsenburg (Harz) in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and was given its present appearance in the 2nd half of the 19th century. The structure was built from 1860 onwards on the west and north sides of the Romanesque monastery of Ilsenburg Abbey. The stately home, designed in the Neo-Romanesque style, was the seat of the princes of Stolberg-Wernigerode until 1945. Since 2005, it has been owned by the Ilsenburg Abbey Foundation.

In the future it is intended to make use of the house, together with the surviving, medieval cloisters (Klausurgebäude) of the monastery, as an art and cultural centre with overnight accommodation as well as a restaurant open to the public.

The Benedictine monastery in Ilsenburg was closed during the 16th century. The abbey site, including all its estates, were taken over by the counts of Stolberg who had exercised guardianship over the abbey since 1429 when the counts of Wernigerode died out.

The secularised abbey estate was recognised by the prince-elector of Brandenburg, Frederick William I in 1687 as his property. During the 30 Years' War the castle of Wernigerode, occupied by Henry Ernest, had fallen into such a state, that he moved his court to Ilsenburg in September 1648. He moved into the dowager residence on the west side of the former abbey land that had been built between 1609 and 1615 by his cousin, Henry, for his wife, Adriane. Over the next six decades, Henry Ernest and his son, Ernest, ruled their county from the "Comital Stolberg House of Ilsenburg" (Gräflich Stolbergischen Hause Ilsenburg), as the family called the small stately home at that time.

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