Konradsburg

The Konradsburg is a former castle, monastery and manor house near Ermsleben in the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Konradsburg was first mentioned in 1021 and was originally built to protect the imperial estate (Reichsgut) of the Harz. However it has no fortified towers, keep (bergfried) or great hall (Palas) to indicate that it was a fortified castle site.

After 1120, the Konradsburgs left this fortified hill spur, which lies about 3 kilometres south of Ermsleben and about eight kilometres west of Aschersleben, built Falkenstein Castle in the Selke valley and called themselves Falkensteins from 1142. On the Konradsburg a Benedictine abbey was founded which became the spiritual and economic centre of the area for several centuries. According to tradition, the conversion of the castle into a monastery had been a reparation imposed on Egeno II of Konradsburg for murdering Count Adalbert II of Ballenstedt around 1080.

As a result of the Peasants' War, the monks (who had been part of the Carthusian order since 1477) gave up the monastery of Konradsburg in 1526. Existing structural and excavated remains have revealed the extent of the former monastery. Of the original three-aisled Romanesque basilica, the high chancel and its underlying crypt have been preserved. Despite its simplicity, the chancel conveys a sense of the impressive size of the ancient basilica. The crypt is a five-aisled, groined vault, supported by columns and pillars. Capitals and imposts, decorated with architectural ornaments (Bauzier) showing a wide range of influences (e.g. Rhenish-French), are testimony to the architecture of the 13th century. The main features of the buildings next to the church can be made out from the east and north wing of the enclosure (Klausur).

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