Dahlen Castle () is a castle built between 1744 and 1751 in the small town of Dahlen, located in Saxony, Germany.
History
Medieval times
Since the beginning of the 13th century there was a noble dwelling in Dahlen ("Edelhof, lat. curia"), falling under the administration of the bishops of Naumburg. This developed into a feudal estate "Rittergut" granted by the monarch as a lien to various aristocrats who were bound in turn to maintain law and order and protect the key road between Oschatz and Leipzig. In the 14th century the overlord ownership of Dahlen changed from the Bishopric of Naumburg to the Crown of Bohemia and then in the middle of the 15th century to the Wettin royal family.
In 1305 at the time of Bishop Ulrich of Naumburg, Dahlen was sold to Bodo IV Von Ilburg, lord of Liebenwerda, for the sum of 500 Marks of Freiberg Silver to Otto V von Ilenburg, lord of Uibigau. Later, it was returned to the possession of the Naumburg Stift and in 1367 Bishop Gerhard sold with Strehla, Leisnig, Tiefenau and Elsterwerda to Herzog Polk, Elector of Schweinitz and Margrave of the Lausitz; on his death it returned once again to Naumburg. Thereafter, in the time of the Emperor Carl IV, Dahlen was owned by the royal house of Saxony after an agreement was reached on 23 April 1459 between King George of Bohemia, the Frederick, Elector of Saxony and Duke William of Saxony.
In 1383 Dahlen's owner was Luthold von Torgau, thereafter Hanns von Schleinitz of the Meißen branch of the family, whose father, Heinrich von Schleinitz of Seerhausen died in 1449 and was buried in the von Schleinitz Chapel in the St. Afra Church in Meißen.
In 1618 his descendant Heinrich von Schleinitz sold Dahlen for 44,200 Bohemian Guilders to his brother-in-law Christoph von Loß the Younger, who on 22.07.1619 sold it to the John George I, Elector of Saxony. After 1630 the Elector then sold the estate to his Privy Councillor David von Döring who had recently been ennobled and owned many estates in the area (Seelingstädt, Großsteinberg, Bohlen, Mühl, Börln).
18th century onwards
The new castle was designed by the renowned architect Johann Christoph Knöffel (who died in 1752) and built between 1744 and 1751 for Heinrich Graf von Bünau (02.06.1697–07.04.1762) as a residence, probably on the site of a medieval building most likely built by the von Schleinitz family.
Built in the late Baroque style, the castle featured over 30 rooms and some of the finest examples of trompe-l'œil, particularly in the Grand Stair Hall. This and the ceilings of the Kaisersaal (Emperor Hall) and the Weißersaal (White Hall) were painted by Adam Friedrich Oeser, whom the Count commissioned in 1756.
Perhaps the castle's most notable guest was King Frederick II. "the Great" of Prussia who at the end of the Seven Years' War resided here during the peace treaty negotiations taking place at the nearby Schloss Hubertusburg. On 21 February 1763 he ratified, in the White Hall, some agreements reportedly signed on 15.02.1763 in Hubertusburg to the so-called Treaty of Hubertusburg that ended the war.[1]
The builder of the castle, Heinrich Graf von Bünau, married three times: first on 05.01 1721 Augusta Helena von Döring, a granddaughter of the aforementioned David von Döring, through whom by inheritance Dahlen came into the possession of the von Bünau family. She died on 04.11 1728 and was the mother of Günther Graf von Bünau (1726–1804); secondly in 1729 to Erdmuthe Friederike von Hoym (1712–1742); and lastly on 24 July 1739 to Christiane Elisabeth von Arnim (1699–1783).
The aforementioned son Günther Graf von Bünau (1726–1804) inherited Dahlen on his father's death and was succeeded in turn by his son Günther Graf von Bünau (1768–1841) and then by his son Heinrich Graf von Bünau (1810 in Dahlen – 1842 in Venice). As Heinrich von Bünau left no issue, Dahlen passed to his widow Johanna Louise Augusta Gräfin von Einsiedel (1805–1871), the widow of Friedrich Freiherr von Friesen who died in 1871. After Heinrich von Bünau's death, Johanna married her third husband, Karl Heinrich August Sahrer von Sahr (1821–1874). The couple also left no issue. Dahlen was inherited by his younger brother Johann Georg Sahrer von Sahr (1823–1858). His son Dietrich August Leo Sahrer von Sahr (1852–1925) was succeeded by his son Siegfried Sahrer von Sahr (1891–1953) who, having no children of his own, in 1938 adopted his nephew Hans-Heinrich von Schönberg, son of his sister Sibylla and her husband Caspar von Schönberg, who henceforth bore the surname Sahrer von Sahr-Schönberg.