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Burg Stolpen – history and legends
Burg Stolpen stands on a basalt hill above the little town of Stolpen on the northern edge of Saxon Switzerland; the basalt hill is a designated National Geotope. The castle is famous as the place where Countess Cosel, the mistress of Augustus the Strong, lived as a prisoner for almost half a century. Today it belongs to the Free State of Saxony and is a museum.
The castle of the Bishops of Meissen
The Slavic name Stolpen means “pillar” – after the basalt columns of the hill. The first reliable mention of the castle dates from 1222; shortly before, Bishop Bruno II of Meissen had acquired the fief. For some 350 years Stolpen was one of the main residences of the Bishops of Meissen: home, administrative centre and prison all in one.
Electors, fortress and destruction
In 1559 Elector Augustus of Saxony forced the bishop to exchange Stolpen for the district of Mühlberg and had the castle rebuilt as a fortified Renaissance palace; in 1675 it was further expanded into a fortress. In 1632, during the Thirty Years' War, the people of Stolpen held out against the imperial troops, but fires destroyed large parts of the complex. In 1813 retreating French troops blew up further sections. Since the late 19th century the castle has been a museum – the castle itself gives 1875, the palace administration 1874 as the start of restoration.
Countess Cosel
Anna Constantia von Cosel, born in 1680, was the best-known mistress of Augustus the Strong; in 1705 she even received a secret promise of marriage. In 1713 she fell from favour, fled to Berlin in 1715 despite being forbidden to do so, was handed back and was brought to Stolpen as a prisoner on 24 December 1716. Even after Augustus died in 1733 she stayed – and why remains a mystery to this day. She died at the castle on 31 March 1765 and is buried in the castle chapel. The castle speaks of 49 years of imprisonment; if you do the sums, it comes to a good 48.
The well and the Coselturm
In 1608 Elector Christian II had a well sunk into the hard basalt – the miners made progress of about one centimetre a day and only struck water after 22 years. It was finished in 1632 – between 82 and just under 85 metres deep, depending on the source (the castle says “just under 85 metres”) – and is considered one of the deepest wells ever dug in basalt. It was filled in in 1756 and 1813 and not cleared again until 1883. Countess Cosel lived in the arsenal until 1743 and then – after a lightning strike – in the Johannisturm, which is why it is now called the Coselturm.
A tour of the castle
The castle includes the Seigerturm (around 1455, named after its tower clock of 1562), the Schösserturm with its onion-shaped “welsche Haube” dome (1476–1487), the Johannis- or Coselturm (1509), the Siebenspitzenturm, the granary of 1518, casemates, chapel, torture chamber and basalt cellar. In the Coselturm, the exhibition “Lebenslänglich Stolpen. Der Mythos Cosel” (“Stolpen for Life. The Cosel Myth”) shows, across three floors, the Countess's Bible and her letters, among other things. Allow about two hours for the full tour; children are accompanied by the castle ghost “Basaltus”.
Where basalt got its name
The castle hill is made of basalt some 25 million years old. In 1546 the scholar Georgius Agricola used the word “basalt” for the first time, for the rock of Stolpen – which makes the Stolpen castle hill something of a godparent to the name. In the castle cellar an exhibition explains basalt, and down in the town you can spot it in many places too.
Legend The White Lady in the Schafberg
In the hill near Langenwolmsdorf, close to Stolpen, Countess Cosel is said to find no rest: she wanders about and gives thalers from her grave to those who can stand their ground before her. A shepherd once saw a beautiful woman in white appear, and she led him into the hill, into a great hall with a wide moat of water. He was supposed to leap across it, but he couldn't manage it – and from a hall full of old men with white beards a voice cried out: “In vain once more – another hundred years!” And everything vanished.
Links to other places
With the handover in 1559, the worldly power of the Bishops of Meissen in this area came to an end – Stolpen became a castle of the Wettins. Through Countess Cosel, Stolpen is closely tied to Augustus the Strong, the Dresden court and Schloss Pillnitz: Augustus had given her Pillnitz earlier and took it back from her in 1718.
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