Schloss Neu-Augustusburg

Schloss Neu-Augustusburg is a palace in Weißenfels, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, the residence of the Dukes of Saxe-Weissenfels.

The courtyard, partly restored, in 2015

The building in Baroque style is well preserved and features a notable Baroque church. St. Trinitatis. It is a monument of national importance.^[1]

The schloss now houses the Museum Weißenfels [de] which shows both an exhibition of shoe-making, based on a 1964 Schuhmuseum of the GDR, and a historic exhibition of the duchy.

Building

Building was begun on 25 July 1660 by Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. It was built at the site of a former castle that had been destroyed during the Thirty Years' War. After his death, his son Johann Adolf I, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, took residence in the unfinished schloss and completed it over the following 14 years, supervised by masters Johann Moritz Richter and his son [de], who created one of the largest palaces of the early Baroque in central Germany.

It developed to a cultural centre, attracting artists such as Johann Beer, Johann Philipp Krieger, Georg Philipp Telemann and Friederike Caroline Neuber. Johann Sebastian Bach composed for Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels the cantata Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd, BWV 208, premiered in 1713. His cantata Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a was first performed on the Duke's birthday 1725.

Further reading

• Gottlob Traugott Gabler [de]: Die Fürstengruft auf Neu-Augustusburg, oder Die Herzöge von Sachsen-Weißenfels und Querfurth. C. F. Meusel, Weißenfels 1844.
• 300 Jahre Schloss Neu-Augustusburg, 1660–1694 – Residenz der Herzöge von Sachsen-Weißenfels: Festschrift. Weißenfels 1994.
• Reinhard Schmitt [de]: Schloss Neu-Augustusburg in Weißenfels, Große Baudenkmäler [de], No. 502. München/Berlin 1997
• Mario Titze [de]: Barockskulptur im Herzogtum Sachsen-Weißenfels. ed. Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt / Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte. Michael Imhof Verlag 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-316-8.