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In the period between 1803 -1811 Lord Findlater bought the vineyards along the river Elbe from the Saloppe to the Mordgrund. On the site of today’s Castle Albrechtsberg he had a country house built. Lord Findlater died in 1811, the year of completion.
In 1821 the palace developed into one of the most popular day trip restaurants of Dresden under management of its new owner Johann Gabriel Krebs.
Richard Wagner and Gottfried Semper were guests of the palace in those days.
Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1809-1872), who, with his second wife Countess of Hohenau (1820-1879) was forced to look for a new domicile outside Prussia due to her low status, commissioned his chamberlain’s wife, Freifrau von Stockhausen (1811-1888), to find a suitable location.
According to the land register of the municipality of Loschwitz, Baroness of Stockhausen purchased the area ”Findlater’s Vineyard“ (castle and territory) on behalf of the Prince in 1850 for 16,000 thalers.
The Prussian court and landscaping architect Adolf Lohse (1807-1867), a student of Schinkel, designed the plan for one of the few buildings of late classicism in Dresden. The reflection and traditional use of elements of classical buildings – Greek and the Roman ancient world as well as the Italian Renaissance – formed an essential part of the design. Among others, the Villa d’Este near Rome served as a model for the design of the castle.
The Prussian garden architect Eduard Neide (1818-1883) drew up the plans for the castle grounds, court gardener Herrmann Sigismund Neumann carried them out. Under Neumann’s management four different landscape areas were created, which are criss-crossed by curved paths leading across bridges and a viaduct, past artificially created ponds, rocks and a waterfall.
The adjacent Villa Stockhausen was completed before Castle Albrechtsberg. Being initially designed as the domicile for his chamberlain, Villa Stockhausen served Prince Albrecht and his wife as their domicile for a year, before they settled down at Castle Albrechtsberg in 1854.
Prince Albrecht of Prussia and his wife Rosalie Countess of Hohenau and their two sons Frederick (1857-1914) and William (1854-1930) led a secluded life in Dresden. Due to his military service Prince Albrecht often stayed in Prussia. Moreover, he left Dresden for several extended trips through most of Europe, the Orient and even Africa. Only little is known about his wife’s life at Castle Albrechtsberg. Her birthday was marked every year by a great celebration. Due to her status, however, apart from that she was not in the centre of social attention.
After Prince Albrecht’s and Countess of Hohenau’s deaths in 1872 and 1879, their youngest son Frederick remained at the castle until his death in 1914. His brother subsequently took up residency in the castle. In 1925 he sold the castle and estate to the city of Dresden due to his gambling debts.
Five years later, at Easter 1930, the park was opened to the public. The park enjoyed great popularity with the citizens of Dresden and visitors to the city. The mayor at that time Dr. Külz predicted a rapid urban development of Dresden and endeavoured to preserve the large castle grounds as the “second Großer Garten of Dresden“.
During World War Two, in 1937 the park as well as stables and indoor riding arena were used by an SA cavalry division. From 1943 onwards, children living at a children’s home were accommodated in the castle during the day, the cellar had been converted to an air raid shelter.
After 08 May all three castles, unaffected by the air raids, were occupied by front-line soldiers of the Red Army. This resulted in looting and destruction. For a short time Castle Albrechtsberg became the headquarters of the Soviet Military Administration.
In 1948 the city of Dresden sold the castle to the foreign trade ministry of the USSR. After extensive renovation works carried out by the architect Köckritz the castle was opened as “Intourist“ hotel in December of the same year.
In 1951 the castle was repurchased by the Jugendheim GmbH Berlin. The first pioneers’ palace in the GDR following the Soviet example was founded. The pioneers’ palace “Walter Ulbricht“ was used for leisure activities of the pupils. Since 1952 the city of Dresden has been the owner again.
The chairman of the department for preservation of historical monuments of the region Dresden, Professor Nadler, appointed the castle as national cultural monument in 1977. Any changes which might be of any damaging or changing influence on the interior design have been prohibited from that time on. The gradual restoration has been continued up to the present day.
Since the autumn of 1990 the city council of Dresden has been implementing a new concept on using Castle Albrechtsberg. This concept focuses on the castle as an architectural monument with its characteristic historico-cultural charisma and the uniqueness of the entire castle estate. Particular emphasis has been put on the fundamental restructuring of the use of the castle. The artistic work with children, one of the main focal subjects of the former pioneers’ palace, is being continued today at the ”Jugend&KunstSchule“ Dresden (Youth&ArtCollege) based at the castle estate. Since 1991 the ”Hotel- und Gaststättenschule Schloss Albrechtsberg GmbH“ (hotel and restaurant college) has been resident at the castle estate as a private training centre and permanent catering partner.
Today Castle Albrechtsberg with its noble atmosphere provides a representative setting for balls, banquets, conferences, presentations, award presentations, concerts, weddings and marriage ceremonies. The entire castle or individual rooms of the splendid halls and rooms can be hired for exclusive functions.
Since 1999 the Konzert- & Kongressgesellschaft mbH Dresden has been the new operator of the castle.
