Altenhausen Castle combines a rich architectural history with horse-riding and leisure activities in one place. The complex serves as a youth hostel and hotel; riding holidays and other leisure activities are offered on site. When planning your stay, you can decide whether its architectural history, a riding programme or a combination of both will shape your visit.
Altenhausen Castle: Architectural styles from several periods
Altenhausen Castle was first mentioned in 1162. The present-day complex includes a round central keep, a Renaissance residence and a Neo-Gothic keep. The adjoining farmyard comprises Late Gothic, Baroque and historicist buildings on the medieval ring wall. The ensemble thus brings together different architectural styles and periods rather than a single, uniform style. The date 1162 refers to the first mention, not generally to the construction date of the surviving buildings. A keep is a castle’s fortified main tower; the central keep refers to its fortified inner area. These terms help distinguish two different parts of the Altenhausen ensemble.
Horse riding and leisure activities on site
The riding programme includes riding lessons for beginners, in groups or individually, as well as guided rides for experienced riders. You can choose between lessons and a guided ride; for lessons, you can also choose between group and individual tuition. The riding facilities include more than 70 ponies, an indoor riding arena, an outdoor riding arena, and facilities for grooming and saddling.
The castle grounds also have a free petting zoo and free sports and play facilities: volleyball, street basketball, football, table tennis, a playground and indoor table football. Before booking or visiting, check the current availability of the activities that are important to your plans.
Börde: the regional setting
The broader travel destination of Börde shifts the focus from the castle’s architecture to a wider landscape and cultural region. Börde district stretches from the fertile Börde in the south—the largest contiguous area of black earth in Germany—to the meadows and wetlands of Drömling in the north. In the middle of the district, wooded hills and the Colbitz-Letzlinger Heide shape the landscape; the heath is home to Europe’s largest contiguous lime forest.
The cultural attractions are just as varied: churches, monasteries, palaces, castles, museums and historic monuments are among the places worth visiting in Börde district. The “Romanesque Road” includes ten different sites there. Hundisburg Castle is one of the most significant rural Baroque castles in Saxony-Anhalt and is distinguished by its historic gardens and parkland; its Baroque garden exemplifies perfect symmetry and detailed garden design. The Hundisburg Brickworks Technical Monument offers another way to explore regional history, combining a technology museum with brick production using the hand-striking method, a coarse ceramics workshop for shaping and pottery, a building-materials manufactory and a carpentry workshop. The historic narrow-gauge railway there offers visitors a ride of about two kilometres past historic kilns, a bucket-chain excavator and the former clay pit.
Discover more travel destinations: Wefensleben, Loitsche-Heinrichsberg, Schwaneberg, Gröningen, Ingersleben, Harbke, Bülstringen, Barleben.
View the broader travel overview: Börde.
