Annaburg Castle

Frederick the Wise, protector of the Reformation, commissioned a massive new building comprising a front and rear castle in the early 16th century. Lucas Cranach the Elder, a painter at the electoral court, was involved in the design, among others.

The many listed buildings still give the town its special charm. There are museums in Annaburg Castle and in the Amtshaus. Frederick the Wise’s passion for hunting and the Lochau Heath, rich in game, may also have been the reason Elector August I of Saxony (1553-1586) rebuilt the castle in 1575. Under Elector August, the castle housed the first version of the Royal Saxon State Library containing 2.354 volumes, while Saxony’s first court pharmacy was established in Annaburg on orders of Electress Anna.