Albrechtsburg and the cathedral: Meiβen, Germany

The last weekend of 2019, I pulled out a paper map and looked for towns near Dresden, Germany, where I had been working since September. I wanted to get out of the city, away from the Augustusmarkt directly below my window. In the beginning, that secondary Christmas market had been fun. By the end of December, I was done with the Ferris wheel and midnight drunkenness.

Meiβen [Meissen] looked close enough for a day trip, maybe a thirty minute drive. After a good breakfast, I struck out to see the Albrechtsburg and cathedral. It was a gorgeous day, but bitterly cold.

A very brief history

For centuries, Dresden and Meiβen had dominated European porcelain-making. Dresden had the big city advantage—better access to labor, markets, and railroads. Meiβen apparently got a jump on Dresden when they figured out white porcelain first. In fact, Dresden’s size worked against it. Friedrich August I (August II the Strong) had his porcelain factory placed within the walls of the Albrechtsburg in 1710 to prevent the “recipe” for his white porcelain from being stolen.

I did my homework before heading out. Despite its name (“-burg”), Albrechtsburg is a Schloss. In English, we may translate both Burg and Schloss as “castle,” but they’re different animals. A Burg is a fortress. For Lutheran friends: Ein’ feste Burg, a mighty fortress. You’ll find turrets and walls, moats and weaponry, things that provide the lord of the castle with a strong defensive position.

A Schloss, on the other hand, can be a smaller country house, or a large and imposing palace. Size doesn’t matter. It’s simply not meant as military installation. Albrechtsburg started out as a medieval Burg, and became a Schloss. According to locals’ telling of its history, it was the first ever Schloss (palace) in current Germany. Unlike later palace designs, Albrechtsburg copied the medieval pattern of a walled Burg, with shelter within those walls for workmen and presumably their families, with the town proper at its base.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive history of either Albrechtsburg or the cathedral, much less of Meiβen. In fact, one day was not nearly enough. It’s on my list of places to go back to—to see more than the magnificent Schloss and cathedral.

Because Meiβen has far more meaning than simply porcelain, more than this complex on top of the hill. The town has been the center of Germany’s “eastern frontier” since the days of the Holy Roman Empire, since an emperor founded the Margraviate of Meiβen and designated it his frontier against Polish armies and later Mongols.

The Seven Years’ War was fought here. The NSDAP put down a branch of the Flossenbürg concentration camp in this idyllic town. And it was here as well that German Lutherans and English Anglicans finally laid down arms and recognized one another’s religions… in 1988.

So very short history only, focusing on the palace and its adjoining cathedral.

What I loved

The short drive from Dresden to Meiβen was pleasant. Once outside Dresden, and before reaching Meiβen, the landscape and architecture became far simpler. The sort of place where you can exhale, hike, order a decent Radeberger with Knödel and sächsischer Sauerbraten.

The more time I spent in this corner of Germany, the more I appreciate its influence on my great-grandfather and in turn, on his American children in general and my grandmother in particular. His hometown may call itself Hof, in Bayern ganz oben, but it’s not Bavarian.

I see many family habits and peculiarities when I get out into the Thuringian and Saxon countryside. My grandmother, raised as a Texan and an American, still was drawn to fine porcelain produced here. My china cabinet is filled with things I saw on this day trip. Inherited from her.

Once in Meiβen, Google Maps did not know it’s not permitted to drive to the top of the hill. Otherwise I would not have gotten such a nice photograph of the cathedral. I turned around and went back down the hill and kept looking for parking. But Google’s error gave me the perfect place for a picture! Thank you, Google.

Despite having done my research, I was not prepared for the beauty of the Albrechtsburg. It’s no Neuschwanstein, but it’s astounding in its own way. Seeing a cathedral physically “one” with the Schloss reminded me why so many of our ancestors emigrated to the US. The Margraviate of Meiβen ensured that their subjects were aware of the unity between Church and State—from 1260-1581, Catholic, and after that, Lutheran.

Since this was a working palace, it’s different from places like Hohenschwangau or Neuschwanstein. Various Margraves not only held court here—their throne room is considerably more modest than those built by Mad King Ludwig—but there are sections where business was transacted. And where parties were thrown. And more intimate spaces, still not living quarters, where the margraves likely negotiated porcelain deals and matters related to their Margraviate.

In case you’re curious: The seats of the thrones are simple needlepoint.

The margraves also celebrated their lineage, with tapestries and statues and stained glass windows commemorating themselves and their ancestors. My favorite: Heinrich der Erlauchte, or Henry III the Illustrious. He ascended to the throne in 1220 (alt. 1221) at the age of six and ruled until his death in 1288. The statue is of him as a young man, but not a boy.

A sad tapestry commemorates the reign of Heinrich’s father, Dietrich der Bedrängte (Theodoric I the Oppressed). Dietrich and his elder brother Albert fought a fairly brutal civil war, which included Albert’s imprisonment of their father in an attempt to regain power. The brothers fought five long years after their father’s death, with Dietrich leaving the country in 1195. Shortly after Dietrich’s exile, Albert died, apparently of natural causes, and Dietrich ruled from 1195-1221.

Dietrich’s reign was filled with discord, intrigue, and deceit. He invaded Leipzig, signed a peace treaty, and then conquered Leipzig anyway. In 1877 the historian Heinrich Theodor Flathe postulated that Dietrich had been poisoned to put an end to the constant violence that characterized his twenty-six years as margrave.

The top floor of the Albrechtsburg—yes, I climbed all the way to the top!—fascinated me. This is where the margraves lived. The rooms are large and empty, except for a few items like an old, elaborate Kachelofen here or there. These ceramic heaters were supposed to provide warmth in the bitter winters of this region. They’re pretty, but I doubt the rooms were warm.

Unlike many German castles, the stairs of the Albrechtsburg are fairly easy to navigate, even for someone like me with bad knees. The rise height is almost uniform, and the pitch is not steep. They’ve added a handrail in recent decades, but even without one, it’s not bad.

While going through the residential floor at the top of the Schloss, a nice young woman approached me and asked if I knew there was an elevator. Sigh.

Travel hints: First, check hours of everything. Especially in winter. I couldn’t go inside the cathedral, because I noticed only summer hours on their Web site. In winter, they close much earlier.

Art exhibits: At the inside entrance of the castle, you’ll find various permanent and temporary exhibits. When I was there, it was entitled You Are Art. I enjoyed it immensely!

Shopping and dining: The Platz or plaza inside the walls of Albrechtsburg provide delightful places to dine and shop. As with hours, check to ensure the ones you want are open when you’ll be there.

Questions? Comments? Go to our Chat Room!

No part of this post may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the copyright holder, except for the “fair use” of quotations that are properly cited and credited, including identification of the translator if applicable. No part of this post may be included in any Large Language Model without proper licensing from the copyright holder, Denise Elaine Heap.