Frequently asked questions
Many guests ask us questions about the castle and our association. Some are asked again and again, which we would like to address on this page. The list of questions and answers will be expanded gradually.
Blankenburg Castle is owned by Großes Schloss Blankenburg GmbH, a subsidiary of Verein Rettung Schloss Blankenburg e.V. The association is the sole shareholder of the GmbH. Both the association and the GmbH operate on a non-profit basis.
Unfortunately, this cannot be answered with a year. The oldest remains in the castle date back to the Middle Ages. The castle was first mentioned chronologically in 1123. The parts of the building visible today are mainly from the Baroque period and were built between 1705 - 1731.
You can find more details about the castle history here.
After the war, the castle was used by the social insurance as a convalescent home for 10 years. Afterwards, the vocational school for domestic trade of the Association of German Consumer Cooperatives (VDK) had its headquarters at Blankenburg Castle until 1991.
We do not charge an entrance fee for your visit to the castle. The courtyard and other parts of the castle as well as the exhibition rooms are freely accessible. The interior rooms, however, can only be visited with an escort and we charge a small fee for this guided tour of the castle.
Yes, we are also open during the week from March to December. However, there is only the possibility to inform yourself about the castle for the most part. The courtyard and some parts of the castle as well as the exhibition rooms are freely accessible. A tour of the interior is only possible on Saturdays with a guided tour of the castle.
If you would like a guided tour of the castle outside our regular guided tour times on Saturdays, a castle guide will be available just for you - depending on the size of the group, there may be more than one. You will not have to wait and you will only be among yourselves. Even though we do everything for our castle on a voluntary basis, this exclusivity also means more effort, which we compensate for with the higher entrance fee.
The association has over 400 members. About a third of them come from Blankenburg. Many come from the Harz region and the Braunschweig area.
A large number of our members have a personal connection to the monument, mainly through the Technical College for Domestic Trade, which was based there for almost 35 years.
The relatively short period of time after the school for domestic trade moved out, when the castle had to serve as a speculative and investment object and was mainly unused, led to this severe damage. Roof damage was not repaired and the penetrating dampness provided an ideal breeding ground for dry rot.
In addition, most of the last remaining historic fixtures were stolen or fell victim to vandalism.
No, on the contrary. During the GDR era, the castle was used and always maintained. Damage, which is part and parcel of such a historic building, was quickly repaired. In the end, Konsum invested about 1 million GDR marks every year in the maintenance of the monument. The installations made in the castle for the boarding school and school operations were in most cases installed in such a way that no major damage was done to the historical building fabric.
All the profits we make from our castle tours, café operations, sales in the castle shop and our events go towards maintaining the monument. Just like the donations we receive. The upkeep of our castle costs more than 10,000 euros every year, plus our own funds in the five-digit range, which are necessary for the further renovation of the monument.
All members of the association work on a voluntary basis, be it the castle guides, the ladies (and gentlemen) in the café, the board of directors, the management of the limited company, etc., so that every cent goes to the benefit of the Great Castle.
Yes, you can of course receive a donation receipt. The prerequisite for this is that we have your address. Therefore, please always include it in the reason for payment when transferring money, as it is not automatically transmitted by your bank! You are also welcome to inform us by e-mail.
For cash donations, please always inform us in advance so that we can take the actual amount and your details. Envelopes for donations are also available in the Great Castle, on which you can write your address right away.
In any case: thank you very much for your donation!
In den Schlossinnenhof können Sie Ihren vierbeinigen Freund gern mitnehmen. Dort haben wir auch für eine kleine Erfrischung gesorgt. In den Innenbereichen des Schlosses sind Hunde verboten.