In the Middle Ages, building a castle required considerable expenditure and was also a privilege of the rulers. It made the owner able to defend himself and gave him practical and symbolic power. The enormous wealth of castles in Thuringia, which still exists today, is thanks to the castle policy of competing noble families. In the middle of the 13th century, the Wettins inherited the extinct Landgraves of Thuringia. They took over not only their titles, but also their castles and territories - and subsequently expanded their rule over the country. The resulting conflict with the long-established noble families culminated in the so-called Thuringian Counts' War. In addition to the Wettins, the Counts of Schwarzburg and the Vögte of Weida with their numerous lines, the later Counts of Reuss, were able to assert themselves. South of the Thuringian Forest, the Counts of Henneberg remained dominant until the 16th century. The Schwarzburgs even emerged stronger from the power struggle. Originally limited to the area around Arnstadt and Schwarzburg, they now had territories in the north of Thuringia and were able to expand into the middle Saale valley. During this time they acquired Heidecksburg in Rudolstadt and Sondershausen Castle, their two later residences. They rebuilt the castles Ehrenstein and Liebenstein. Both castles are almost identical in construction and have a defensive architecture that is as simple as it is effective. A network of castles that is as dense as possible made it easier to exercise control and jurisdiction and to secure the required taxes and official duties. It also increased the chances of being able to hold territory in the event of an attack. However, the Landgraves of Thuringia had already set standards for castle construction 200 years earlier. The Wartburg with its 12th century palace was not only a place of regional rule, but also demonstrated with its architectural quality that it was a top-class castle. And so the Wartburg was only the most important of several castles owned by the Landgraves. They also regularly visited Neuenburg Castle near Freyburg on the Unstrut and Weissensee Castle in the Thuringian Basin. Rule in the Middle Ages required visibility and presence. Anyone who collected customs duties on major trade routes or had other economic interests could find a castle with an impressive appearance and a good overview very useful. In the late Middle Ages, for example, the city of Erfurt maintained several castles in the wider surrounding area in order to secure the foundations of its economic prosperity based on woad cultivation. The moated castle of Kapellendorf was one of these for a time. If the demands on construction, living comfort or the choice of location changed, castles were often abandoned. Advances in military technology made some castles unusable for defense, others were repeatedly adapted. In Thuringia, for example, after the end of the Middle Ages, quite a few of the approximately 800 castles were lost or became ruins. However, many also proved to be versatile and could be adapted to changing tasks. The pinnacle of functional change is the conversion to a residential palace with continuous use until the end of the monarchy in 1918. This is the case in the eight consistently relevant residential cities of Thuringia. The medieval origins of the buildings were often left visible as a sign of venerable age and evidence of long-standing claims to power. In Thuringia, the density of such original castles converted into permanent rulers' residences is higher than anywhere else. However, most castles were used as official centers, widows' residences, hunting lodges, and much more - or they remained residences of the lower nobility, often changing owners and being repeatedly adapted to changing needs. A castle that had survived in this way until around 1800 or was still a ruin was usually saved. For the Romantics, they testified to an idealized Middle Ages. Castle romanticism gave rise to a lively building activity towards the end of the 19th century. They were brought closer to an ideal based on observations and images, which they may never have fulfilled as "originals". The preservation of castle monuments that began in the 19th century often did not meet today's standards, but it secured the existence of many castles. At the same time, scientific research into castles began. Only experts can see at first glance that the gatehouse at the Upper Castle Kranichfeld does not date from the Middle Ages - the very part of the complex that most clearly evokes the association "castle" was only built around 1900, based on designs by the castle architect Bodo Ebhardt. Only a closer look reveals the full diversity of the "castle" phenomenon, which in Thuringia invites you to travel back in time to all eras of the past millennium. A production by: NEU PRODUCTION