Schloss Wolkenburg

Current exhibitions

About the museum

Schloss Wolkenburg developed from a castle built in the late 12th century at a ford across the Zwickauer Mulde and named after its first owners, imperial ministerials in the service of the Wettins. After the Saxon Prince Abduction (Sächsischer Prinzenraub) of 1455 and the execution of Kunz von Kaufungen, the complex passed to the electors. In 1635 it went to Heinrich Hildebrand von Einsiedel; the family remained the owners until 1945 and around 1700 converted the castle into a palace with a Renaissance garden and rock terraces.

The palace owes its present appearance mainly to Count Detlev Carl von Einsiedel and his son, who had it remodeled in the Neoclassical style between about 1780 and 1820. This period produced the banquet hall, with stucco designed with the involvement of Adam Friedrich Oeser, and the oval, two-story library, one of the earliest Gothic Revival rooms in Germany. The count was also an industrialist: his Lauchhammer ironworks were the first to make it possible to cast large iron sculptures; at the same time the park was laid out as an English landscape garden. In 1848 the painter Fritz von Uhde was born in the palace.

After expropriation in 1945, the palace was used mainly as housing and at times also by the school. In 1995 it became publicly accessible again for the first time, and since 2000 it has belonged to the town of Limbach-Oberfrohna, which runs a museum here. In 2018 the von Einsiedel family donated restituted portraits to the town, which have since hung in the ancestral gallery again. In 2026, extensive renovation work on the palace and park was completed.

Highlights

• Neoclassical banquet hall from around 1780 with original stucco
• Oval Gothic Revival library, one of the earliest in Germany
• Ancestral gallery of the Counts of Einsiedel
• Fritz von Uhde cabinet with two original paintings
• Lauchhammer cast-iron sculptures in the palace and park
• Terraced palace park above the Mulde valley

Permanent exhibitions

• Bel Etage mit Ahnengalerie und Fritz-von-Uhde-Kabinett – Period rooms of the count's family with returned Einsiedel portraits, and a cabinet on the painter Fritz von Uhde, who was born here, with two original paintings.
• Festsaal und neogotische Bibliothek – The Neoclassical banquet hall with its complex pictorial program and the oval, two-story library bear witness to the Enlightenment learning of the man who commissioned them around 1780.

Operated by

Stadt Limbach-Oberfrohna (Städtische Museen)

Director

Barbara Wiegand-Stempel (Leiterin der Städtischen Museen)

Admission & discounts

Free admission with the Schlösserlandkarte (also available on site), and for daycare, after-school and school groups from Limbach-Oberfrohna, tour leaders of booked tours, members of ICOM and the Museumsbund, and members of the friends' association. Reductions only with personalized proof.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: not available
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The palace building is not accessible; the palace courtyard can be reached step-free, but the path from the parking lot is uphill. For events in the banquet hall (second floor), a "Scalamobil" stair climber is available on request.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

Educational programs for elementary schools and secondary schools, "Zuckertüten" tours (school-enrollment tours) for daycare groups, as well as family activities such as a family games day at the museum.

Getting there & parking

GPS address: Schloss 3, 09212 Limbach-Oberfrohna. Bicycles can be taken on the BusBahn (line 629).

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Weddings / ceremonies

Up to 100 guests.

Weddings in the banquet hall (approx. 100 guests) as a branch of the Limbach-Oberfrohna registry office; grand piano available. No other rentals are listed.

Plan your visit