Wartburg Castle
Ferenc Liszt conducted his oratorio The Legend of St. Elizabeth here in 1867
MúzeumCafé 6.
This knight’s castle has stood on a hill surrounded by steep precipices in the middle of forests connecting the provinces of Thuringia and Hessen since 1067. It was rediscovered by Goethe when he was a minister in Weimar. He was fascinated by the architectural and historic value of the building, the impressive surroundings and the amazing view, so he pressed for it to become a museum. However, the family of the Weimar grand dukes began large-scale restoration work only half a century later. First Matthias Werner, professor at Jena’s Friedrich Schiller University and curator of Exhibition of Thuringia Province took me round the historic halls of the castle and the exhibition held to mark the 800th anniversary of the birth of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, i.e. of Hungary’s Árpád dynasty. On display were works of art on loan from museums and churches around the world. Despite pressure from the princely court and accusations of dissipating her wealth, Elizabeth, widowed at the age of 20, nursed the destitute sick in the alms hospital founded by her in Marburg in the four years she had before her own death. Later, Günter Schuchardt, captain of the castle (the museum director is called Burghauptman in good style) guided me around the historic site in the entourage of former president of Hungary, Ferenc Mádl, who had been awarded the Wartburg Prize. Established in 1922, the Wartburg Foundation ensures that this national treasure is looked after and maintained.