Confessions of a Castleholic

Nestled away on the southern edge of the Harz mountains lies the small town of Stolberg, in which non -timber-framed houses are rather hard to find. Apart from around 400 of them, there also is a castle by the town's name, Schloss Stolberg , which has had a changing history, particularly throughout the last one hundred years or so. Stolberg was established as a settlement for miners in around AD 1000 and awarded town status prior to the year 1300. The origins of the castle, which stands above the town on a hill with steep drops on three sides, also dates back to the 13th century. From its very beginning, the town had been the residence of the Counts of Stolberg. The family remained the owners of the castle for more than 700 years until they were dispossessed by the Soviets in 1945 (like basically all other royal and noble families in what later became the German Democratic Republic). These days Schloss Stolberg is owned by the German Foundation for Monument Protection, a pr...