Altenstein Palace

Schloss (palace) upon a rocky hill on the south western slope of the Thuringian Forest

Schloss Altenstein is a schloss, or palace, upon a rocky hill on the south western slope of the Thuringian Forest, not far from Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany. It was the summer residence of the Dukes of Saxe Meiningen, and is surrounded by 160 hectares (1.6 square kilometres) of English landscape garden, which contain, among other objects of interest, a cavern 300 metres long, through which flows a large and rapid stream.

Altenstein is a part of the municipality of Bad Liebenstein in the Wartburgkreis near Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany. It sits on a platform with a height of around 460 metres above sea level, part of the dolomite hills at the western edge of the Thuringian Forest. It is surrounded by 160 hectares of park, which includes several pinnacles of Zechstein rock.

A fortified structure, possibly initially a pre Christian holy site, may have been roughly in the same location as the current house by the 6th century. The structure at this original site was later referred to as Alter Steyn. Saint Boniface, the apostle of the Germans, reportedly lived and preached at Altenstein in 724 and built a chapel on the so called Bonifatiusfelsen. A new castle (Neuenburg) was later built at this site by the Kloster Fulda. In 1116, a knight "Dudo von Steyn" (later known as von Frankenstein) was mentioned as holding a castle here. Neuenburg itself was first mentioned in an extant document in 1150. In 1225, the older castle was first referred to as de antique lapide ("Old Stone"). From the mid 14th century, the castle was in the possession of the Landgraves of Thuringia. According to a 1330 document, in that year the von Frankenstein family sold the Neuenburg to Berthold VIII von Henneberg. In 1346, Friedrich der Ernsthafte, Landgraf von Thüringen bought the Altenstein, but not the Neuenburg (which remained with the Henneberg family until 1495), from Salza (family), steward of the Prince Bishop of Würzburg at Meiningen. In 1347, Friedrich der Strenge married Katharina von Henneberg, the local estates of Steinbach and Schweina were given to her as dowry. In 1353, after the death of Katharina's mother, Friedrich united these lands with Altenstein, Gumpelstadt and to create the Vogtei Altenstein. An old beech called "Luther's Tree", which tradition connected with the reformer, was blown down in 1841, and a small monument now stands in its place.

The Schloss and park are open to the public. The outbuildings house a restaurant, a technical academy run by the TÜV Thüringen and a nature information centre. The former boarding school had been turned into a hotel,

The cave in the park is accessible to visitors for around 300 metres. There are occasional concerts inside a 12 metre high domed cavern.