Heuckewalde Castle

Heuckewalde moated castle, also known as Heuckewalde Castle, is located in the Heuckewalde district of the municipality of Gutenborn in the Burgenlandkreis (Saxony-Anhalt).

The moated castle was probably built around 1152, starting with the keep, for a castle-like complex, in the possession of the Posa Monastery in Zeitz. The defensive tower, built in the 12th century with its later added top (a total of 42 meters high), proves the former fortified character of the castle as a moated castle surrounded by swamps and water.

The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1318 during a settlement concerning the ownership of Heuckewalde between Landgrave Frederick I (Frederick the Bitten) and Bishop Heinrich of Naumburg-Zeitz.

After the Naumburg bishops had used the castle as a hunting and pleasure residence in the 14th century, it was sold, used as a residential complex, and converted into the existing residential castle at the beginning of the 18th century by the owners Bernhard von Pflugk and his son Georg.

In 1945, due to the forced expropriation of the last owners, the von Herzenberg family, the municipality became the legal entity and used the castle as a school, kindergarten, nursery, school kitchen, municipal office, and as a residential complex. After the Wende (1990) and the departure of the previous users, the castle stood empty and began to decay. In 2003, the "Schloss Heuckewalde" e.V. support association was founded for the preservation and use of the castle. Since February 2011, the castle has been back in private ownership.