Schloss Tenneberg

Schloss Tenneberg

High above the town of Waltershausen and visible from afar, Tenneberg Castle sits enthroned on the 400-meter-high castle hill. Thuringian landgraves built the former castle with its horseshoe-shaped ground plan at the end of the 12th century. In the course of the centuries Tenneberg has experienced many lords and fundamental reconstructions. It was the court and administrative seat, hunting lodge and summer residence of the dukes of Gotha as well as the military center of the former Amt Tenneberg. Its architecture reflects above all the architectural styles of the Renaissance and the Baroque. Three baroque rooms are preserved today, the most magnificent of which is the banqueting hall with paintings by the Gotha court painter Johann Heinrich Ritter. The romantic, arcaded small castle courtyard with a castle café is particularly charming. Today, the castle is actually a large museum of local history, which is known far beyond the state borders, especially for its extensive doll exhibition.