Altenburg Castle

Altenburg Castle, also known as Riedesel Castle, is a former castle complex and later a palace situated on a hill above the Schwalm river in Altenburg (Am Schlossberg 28), a district of the town of Alsfeld in the Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse.

The former castle complex is presumably dated to the Merovingian period. The castle was first mentioned in 1178, and in 1193, Sifridus von Aldinburg was the first local nobleman in Altenburg to be named. The Aldinburgers were vassals of Fulda Abbey, and their castle served to protect the abbey's possessions. In 1314, the castle was captured and razed by Landgrave Otto, and rebuilt in 1319.

In a 1574 register, three castle fiefs existed: Christoph von Liederbach, Stam Rotzmann, and the Junker von Lehrbach. The fourth fief of the Riedesel von Eisenbach was pledged to the von Liederbach family, who inhabited the castle until their line died out in 1605. In 1681, Baron Hermann XVI. Riedesel took possession of the fiefs and moved into Altenburg, which has remained in the family's possession to this day.

In 1647, the castle was destroyed by Lower Hessian troops during the Thirty Years' War, renovated in the style of a palace after 1681, and a manor house was built in the mid-18th century.

The north wing and the so-called church wing, two-story plastered buildings with a mansard roof, are dated to 1744. A younger annex with a gable roof, as well as a group of secular buildings and a residential-agricultural wing, are dated to the 19th century. The half-timbered construction of the residential house with double-braced floor supports is dated to the second half of the 19th century. Remains of the medieval castle complex can still be found in the foundations of the south wing.

The Protestant castle church, built between 1748 and 1750, stands freely in the center of the castle district.