Stamp point 197 / Anhalt castle ruins

The ruins of Anhalt Castle are located high above the Selke Valley on the local mountain (397 m above sea level) between Mägdesprung and Falkenstein Castle.

Anhalt Cas­tle was first men­tioned around 1140 when it was destroyed dur­ing a feud between the Arch­bish­op of Magde­burg and Mar­grave Kon­rad of Meis­sen. The Ascan­ian Albrecht I of Bran­den­burg, bet­ter known as “Albrecht the Bear”, had the cas­tle rebuilt in the fol­low­ing years. The new con­struc­tion made the cas­tle one of the largest for­ti­fi­ca­tions in the entire Harz region. 

Today, only the remains of the keep and parts of the cas­tle chapel can still be seen, but a mod­el of the cas­tle can be found on Bal­len­st­edt Cas­tle Square. As the cas­tle gave its name to the state of Sax­ony-Anhalt, the cas­tle grounds were opened to the pub­lic in 2012 to mark the state’s 800th anniversary. 

The short­est start­ing point for a hike to the cas­tle ruins is the park­ing lot in front of the Selkemüh­le, which can be reached from Mägde­sprung. From the for­mer inn, cross the Selke and walk steadi­ly uphill along a sign­post­ed hol­low path to the cas­tle ruins.