Stein Castle (Saxony)

Stein Castle
Burg Stein, Schloss Stein
Hartenstein
Stein Castle from the south
Stein Castle
Coordinates	50°39′6″N 12°39′42″E / 50.65167°N 12.66167°E / 50.65167; 12.66167Coordinates: 50°39′6″N 12°39′42″E / 50.65167°N 12.66167°E / 50.65167; 12.66167
Type	lowland castle
Code	DE-SN
Site information
Condition	preserved or largely preserved
Site history
Built	ca. 1200

Stein Castle (German: Burg Stein or Burg und Schloss Stein) is a Saxon castle located southeast of Zwickau in the village of Stein in the municipality of Hartenstein on the rocky banks of the Zwickauer Mulde in the east German state of Saxony.

Just above the castle is a weir on the River Mulde. The impounded river drove a mill with four large water wheels. In 1788 its milling rights (Mahlzwang) were transferred from an older mill to this one. As a result of its exclusive milling rights, several mill tracks led to Stein. In 1912 the construction of a stately home, Wolfsbrunn House (Schloss Wolfsbrunn), began on the opposite bank of the river. The ruins of Isenburg castle are located only two kilometres upstream. Towards Langenbach were once the villages of Ober- and Niederopritz, which used to belong to Stein Castle, but were probably destroyed during the Hussite Wars.

The settlement of the Ore Mountains began in the 12th/13th centuries, especially along the rivers. River crossings and religious orders (Niederlassungen) were protected by fortified sites. Along the Zwickauer Mulde river, numerous castles were built.

Construction of the castle was probably started around 1200 on a rock made of hornblende right on the southern banks of the Mulde. This oldest part of the site form the upper ward (Oberburg) today, consisting of a round bergfried, a palas, with its great hall, and defensive walls. Its architecture still has Romanesque influences. The fortifications probably also served as an outer ward of Hartenstein Castle which had not at that time been converted into a stately residence or schloss.