Dohna Castle Dohna Castle ( , ) on the road from German Saxony to Bohemia was the seat of the burgraves of Dohna . Of the old , once imposing double castle only a few remnants of the walls remain . The ruins of the old castle are located on the hill of Schlossberg near the subsequent suburb of the town of the same name , Dohna , in the district of Sächsische Schweiz - Osterzgebirge in Saxony . History . Dohna Castle was probably founded around A . D . 950 by Emperor Otto I ( 936 – 973 ) on the Schlossberg hill on the site of a Sorbian fortification . This region around the Schlossberg had been a Sorbian settlement from prehistoric times . The name of the settlement was Donin , from which the castle received its name . The castle was the centre of the imperially immediate lordship of the burgrave s of Dohna . They had the task of guarding the trade route to Bohemia , keeping the conquered Sorbs in check and protecting emissaries of the church . Early history . Dohna Castle was first mentioned in the records in 1040 in connexion with the conflicts between King Henry III ( 1039 – 1056 ) and Duke Bretislaus of Bohemia . The Margrave of Meißen , Eckard II ( 1038 – 1046 ) , probably held Dohna Castle as an imperial fief . Later , the castle fell under Bohemian lordship . In 1076 , the Duke , and later King , of Bohemia , Vratislaus II ( 1061 – 1092 ) , was enfeoffed by Henry IV ( 1056 – 1106 ) with the Gau of Nisani . He ceded the Gau of Nisani with Dohna Castle to his son - in - law , Wiprecht of Groitzsch , who later became the Margrave of Meißen ( 1123 – 1124 ) , as a dowry for his daughter . In 1112 Wiprecht of Groitzsch reliquished Nisani and Dohna Castle to Henry V ( 1106 – 1125 ) . On recovering possession of the castle by Groitzsch in 1117 , Bohemian supremacy was re - established . At the beginning of the 12th century Dohna Castle was destroyed , but then rebuilt by the Duke of Bohemia , Vladislaus I ( 1109 – 1125 ) around 1121 . The following description of the dungeon is found in August Schumann ' s State Lexicon of Saxony ( " Staatslexikon von Sachsen " ) : " . . . and was , as with every strong castle at that time , according to custom of the day , sometimes used as a state prison . At the very least , it is known that the Bohemian king , Sobeslaus [ Soběslav ] , marched several Bohemian lords to the dungeon at Dohna during in 1126 . . . " . Of the burgraves installed as imperial officials on a certain Erkembert ( from the family of Tegkwitz ? ) is named in 1113 , referred to in the records " Erkembertus prefektus de castro Donin " . It is also known that the family of the " Erkenbertinger " s ( recorded as burgraves in 1113 ) came from Franconia , established themselves in the vicinity of Naumburg and that their relatively junior Starkenberg line played a role in the Ore Mountains , for example in land development ( " Landausbau " ) . Seat of the Donins . The progenitor of the Donins , who ruled from Dohna Castle for some 250 years , was Burgrave Henry I , who is clearly mentioned for the first time in 1143 as " Heinricus de Rodewa " ( Rötha ) and 1144 , albeit without giving the location , for the first time as documented as burgrave . The actual enfeoffment is not recorded , but must have taken place no later than 1156 , when Henry is first expressly referred to as the Burgrave of Dohna . The powerful castle of Dohna perched on a rocky spur , 155 m above sea level ( NN ) near the River Müglitz , was the centre point of the Burgraviate of Dohna . It was here that the Dohnaer Schöppenstuhl was held , a magistrate ' s court ( " Schöffe ngericht " ) recorded since 1390 that operated until 1572 , predominantly in the field of feudal and inheritance matters and gave legal direction over an area that extended far beyond the borders of Saxony . One can assume that during the rule of the Dohna hereditary burgraves , the castle was expanded in such a way that it finally appeared as imposing double castle , consisting of an inner and outer castle ( " Hinterburg " and " Vorderburg " ) and a large ward ( " Vorhof " ) . During the excavations of 1904 / 06 , the exposure of the transverse wall separating the two castles , proved this theory . The oval - shaped castle tower on the " Fleischerbrunnen " well in Dohna ' s market square , created in 1912 by the Dresden sculptor , Alexander Höfer , portrays the tower in the oldest town coat of arms of 1525 . Loss and ruin of the imperial castle . In the wake of the Dohna Feud ( 1385 – 1402 ) , which began between Burgrave Jeschke of Dohna and the Saxon noble , Hans of Körbitz ( Korbs ) , the burgraves lost their main seat of power and all the estates belonging to it to the House of Wettin . The present Saxon - Bohemian state border was established in 1406 , when the neighbouring Bohemian Pirna Castle with its associated villages and the Bohemian fortress of Königstein , in which Burgrave Jesche was able to seek refuge , were also won for the Wettins . From autumn 1401 onwards the castle was besieged and , after lengthy resistance , was taken by storm on 19 June 1402 in the presence of Margrave William I the One - Eyed ( 1349 / 79 – 1407 ) . After its capture the castle was not completely slighted . The residential buildings were left standing and served as residences for the margravial officials who managed the caretaking of Dohna . After the " Vögte " had moved their seat somewhere around 1457 to Pirna , the castle gradually fell into decay . In addition , the townsfolk of Dohna in subsequent times , may have helped themselves to large amounts of stone from the castle for building material whenever it was needed . In a picture from 1690 by A . Nienborg and in a sketch by Goebel in 1793 extensive remains of the walls and tower can still be seen . M . Christian Bartsch , pastor in Dohna , wrote in 1735 : " . . . on this castle hill you can still find the ruins of old walls , towers and vaults which have withstood the rain and weather for 330 years uncared for ; but whose limestone and rock are so strong that you can only pull them down with difficulty , but which do not collapse by themselves . The Swedes when they stood here in 1709 , tried to break into a vault in this castle hill , perhaps they thought they would find treasure , but had to give up soon thereafter due to the strength of the walls . . . " . Today only a small remnant of the wall of the old castle may still be seen . Apart from that there is nothing else left of Dohna Castle . Construction of castle hill after the decay of the castle ruins . In 1803 Burgrave Henry Louis of Dohna bought the castle hill ( " Schlossberg " ) in order to rebuild the castle in the spirit of the growing Romanesque movement . The castle hill was therefore cleared of rubble and the work began on the construction of a round tower . But the Napoleonic Wars prevented his romantic plans from being fulfilled . Eventually the round tower was completed in its present shape in 1830 . The " Privileged Shooting Association of Dohna " ( " Privilegierte Schützengesellschaft zu Dohna " ) bought the " Schlossberg " in 1826 for 700 thaler s and levelled the front part of the hill . From the rock material of the castle walls they built the shooting house ( " Schießhaus " ) in 1828 , the shooting wall and the supporting wall of the access track . The buildings on the " Schlossberg " today consist mainly of the former shooting house , now a castle inn ( " Burgschänke " ) used as a " Handelsorganisation " restaurant and dancing hall , and the round tower built in the style of the old castle and last used as a museum area , in which local minerals from the Müglitz valley e . g . amethyst s and agate s could be admired . In the castle inn ( " Burg Dohna " restaurant ) there has been a local history museum on the first floor since 1958 , although it was founded in 1906 . Today the local history museum is in the old chemist ' s in the market square . Here there are " intera alia " interesting exhibits of castle history e . g . discoveries from the Middle Ages , graphic works and documents . Present use . The buildings of the " Schlossberg " , the round tower of 1830 and the old castle inn , are currently out of use . The castle site is protected today as an heritage area , as is the Sorbian hill fort at the back of the spur that was called Robisch ( Robsch , Robscher ) . This fort is still visible on a spur over the railway station yard . This site is mentioned because , even before the settlement of the castle hill ( " Schlossberg " ) , a Sorbian fortification had stood on the Robisch .