Germany Guide
Saxony
Schloss Augustusburg
Opening time: daily: April– Oct 9.30am–6pm; Nov– March 10am–5pm
Price: Combination ticket for Jagdtier- und Vogelkundemuseum, Kutschenmuseum & Schlosskerker €6.60
Website: www.die-sehenswerten-drei.de
Just under 15km east of Chemnitz, the tiny town of AUGUSTUSBURG drapes itself picturesquely over rock knuckle, the Schellenberg. The colossal white-and-pink wedding-cake decoration at the summit is Schloss Augustusburg, whose stack of cubes and rectangles was created as a hunting lodge by Saxony Elector Augustus in 1572.
Guided tours (daily: April– Oct 10.30am, 12.30pm, 2pm & 4pm; Nov– March 11.30am, 1.30pm & 3.30pm; 50min; €3) explore historic apartments of the Lindenhaus; a sweet Schlosskirche, the high-water mark of Renaissance ecclesiastical architecture in Saxony, with an altarpiece by Cranach the Younger of the Elector and family beneath a Crucifixion set before his castle; and the Brunnenhaus wellhouse, whose original wooden machinery is still able to draw water from a 130m shaft, albeit without the two oxen originally required.
Other areas can be visited individually. For historical character there's former banqueting quarter Hasenhaus (€2.80), which gets its name from the amusing murals of anthropomorphized hares which gambol over the doorways, more appealing than the so-so hunting and regional nature displays of its Jagdtier- und Vogelkundmuseum. The former kitchen opposite houses the Motorradmuseum (€3.20), a rev-head's paradise of shiny motorbikes – from Gottfried Daimler's 1885 boneshaker, capable of a giddy 12km/hr with stabilisers, to sports and classic roadsters of international marques, including a section on Saxony brand DKW, the world's largest bike producer in the 1920s and 1930s. The Marstall stables (€1.60) behind contain a gilded Cinderella carriage (1790), which was pulled by six white chargers for the imperial coronation, among displays of coaches in the Kutschenmuseum; while the Schlosskerker (€1.60) dungeon is an orgy of torture instruments and grisly illustrations. There's also a tower (€1) for an elevated view over the quilt of fields and forest laid over hills that roll back to the Erzgebirge uplands south. By the castle gateway the Sächsischer Adler- und Jagdfalkenhof (April– Oct Tues– Sun approx every 2hr; €6) stages free-flight falconry displays in homage to the castle's hunting roots.