Burg und Festung Regenstein

Useful Information

Location:	Am Platenberg, Blankenburg (Harz). Visitor car park below the Regenstein, right on the edge of the forest. (51.815080, 10.959785)
Open:	APR to OCT daily 10-18. NOV to MAR Tue-Sun 10-16. Christmas holidays daily 10-16. Winter holidays daily 10-17. Closed 01-JAN, 24-DEC, 25-DEC, 31-DEC, in case of extremely bad weather. Last entry 30 minutes before closing time. [2025]
Fee:	Adults EUR 4, Children (6-18) EUR 2. Groups (20+): Adults EUR 3.20, Children (6-18) EUR 1.60. [2025]
Classification:	Cave Castle
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Karl Bürger (1905): Der Regenstein bei Blankenburg/Harz - Seine Geschichte und Beschreibung seiner Ruinen online
Address:	Burg und Festung Regenstein, Am Platenberg, 38889 Blankenburg (Harz), Tel: +49-3944-61290.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1162	First written mention of Konrad, son of Count Poppo I of Blankenburg, as Comes de Regenstein (Count of Regenstein).
15th	century Regenstein family of counts moves to Blankenburg Castle, castle falls into disrepair.
1671	Prussians turn it into a fortress.
1677	Fortress becomes a garrison.
1736	Lightning strikes the powder tower and severely damages the fortress.
1742	Enclosing wall extended.
12-SEP-1757	handed over to the French.
12-FEB-1758	Recaptured and razed by the Prussians.
11-SEP-1784	Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the painter Georg Melchior Kraus visit the Regenstein.
1812	Opening of the first restaurant and start of tourist use.
2017	Restaurant closed.

Description

Burg Regenstein (Regenstein Castle) is located on a rock in the Harz foothills, north of the Harz mountain, and thus geologically belongs to the North German Plain. However, this sandstone hill called Regenstein (293 m asl) owes its existence to the Harz Mountains. On the northern edge, the normally horizontal sedimentary layers were bent upwards by the uplift of the Harz Mountains, bringing this sandstone, which actually lies 1,000 m below the surface, to the earth’s surface. The elevation and the relatively easy-to-work sandstone were the reasons for building the castle. Not only did it have a strategically important higher position, it was also possible to dig a large part of the castle into the sandstone. The castle was therefore protected not only by a wall, but also by many metres of thick rock. Today many of these cellars and casemates are freely accessible, and the castle is a kind of open-air museum. At the ticket office, visitors receive an informative flyer containing an overview map of the site and other interesting information about the castle. There is free WiFi on the castle grounds, and the information boards feature QR codes that can be used to download the audio guide.

As is often the case, little is known about the origins of the castle, which was first mentioned in 1162. It became famous mainly through Count Albrecht II of Regenstein (*1310–✝1349). In the 1330s, he frequently had disputes with the rulers of the surrounding towns, the Bishop of Halberstadt and the Abbess of Quedlinburg. The legends about this period were then turned into literature in the Romanesque period. One example is the ballad Der Raubgraf (The Robber Baron) by Gottfried August Bürger, which was later set to music by Johann Philipp Kirnberger. The novel Der Raubgraf by Julius Wolff is also well known.

In the 15th century, the Regenstein count family moved to Blankenburg Castle, which is located directly in the town and is more easily accessible. As a result, the castle fell into disrepair and became a ruin. The last male descendant of the Regenstein family, Count Johann Ernst von Regenstein, died in 1599. There were several changes of ownership until it was finally converted into a fortress by the Prussians in 1671. They used the castle as a garrison for almost a century. The situation changed with Napoleon, and the fortress had to be handed over to the French in 1757. Just five months later, the Prussians recaptured it and rendered it unusable by blowing up the powder magazine and grinding down the walls. Only the casemates remained intact, presumably because it was impossible to destroy them at reasonable expense.

The reason why we list a castle on showcaves.com is simple: the underground facilities. To describe them as casemates is probably an oversimplification; they were used as cellars, storage rooms, stables and much more. And, of course, there is also a well that is 197 metres deep, making it probably the deepest castle well in the world. The many cave-like rooms carved into the rock are quite well preserved and have since been renovated. Many archaeological finds were also made during this process. One such cavity now houses an archaeological exhibition.

The fame of Regenstein dates back primarily to the Romantic period. However, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, together with the painter Georg Melchior Kraus, had already visited Regenstein on his third trip to the Harz Mountains. The castle began to be used for tourism in the early 19th century, in connection with the development of tourism in the Harz Mountains. It was frequently visited, pictures were published, there was a restaurant, and later a falconry, which has since moved on. The panorama restaurant is also currently closed for renovation.

Once upon a time, one of the most beautiful maidens in the country was imprisoned in the dungeons of Regenstein Castle because she spurned the love of the Count of Regenstein. She scratched a crack in the rock with a diamond ring, which after a year was large enough for her to crawl through and escape. After her escape, she returned to the castle with her relatives, but the count had disappeared. A little later, she realised that thick smoke was billowing out of a crack in a rock face. When she looked through it, she saw the count in purgatory. Out of pity, she threw him her ring to put the count’s spirit to rest.

On the Regenstein in the northern Harz Mountains stands an ancient rock castle. No one knows who built it or when. However, the castle once came into the hands of knights who named themselves after the Regenstein rock. They became a well-known and feared family of counts, who adopted a coat of arms featuring deer antlers.
One of these counts, named Friedrich, had no children and therefore no heirs. He and his wife mourned greatly that their family line would now die out with them. However, there was a very deep rock well at the castle. It was home to the spirit of an ancestor who sometimes gave advice or predicted the future.
So the wife asked her husband to ask the spirit what they should do to ensure that their family line would survive. At midnight on St. Mary’s Day, the count went to the castle well and, as he had hoped, the spirit appeared and said: ‘What you hope for will come true’. The count then asked the spirit if there was no salvation for him.
The spirit looked deep into the count’s eyes and said, ‘When the Regenstein lies in ruins, I will be redeemed’, and then he disappeared. The count thought this was a bleak prospect, for it seemed unthinkable to him that this mighty rock castle could ever lie in ruins.
However, the well spirit’s prophecy came true, for in the same year the countess gave birth to a healthy, strong boy, who was given the name Konrad. And the following year another boy was born, who was named Helmold. At his birth, the well spirit appeared and announced: ‘This boy will be my salvation, as he bears my name’. This revealed that the spirit was that terrible ancestor Helmold von Regenstein.
Helmold, the last-born son of the count and countess, was difficult to raise. He took no advice, then left his parents’ house and became a robber chieftain. After his parents died, he demanded his inheritance from his brother Konrad. However, Konrad refused to give it to his brother, so Helmold and his band of robbers conquered the castle and forced Konrad to hand over his inheritance. He then reconciled with his brother and even persuaded him to join his band of robbers. Regenstein became a robber’s nest, and the Duke of Brunswick came with his troops to put an end to these activities. He besieged the castle, captured it and destroyed everything that had been built and was not made of rock. That was the last time the ghost rose from his well, for Regenstein lay in ruins, and he was redeemed and could find eternal rest.