Johannisburg Castle

To this day Johannisburg Castle dominates the face of Aschaffenburg and is regarded as the town’s greatest attraction.

It is seen as an important and characteristic example for German Renaissance architecture and served as a second residence for the archbishops and electors of Mainz until 1803. After the castle’s induction Johann Schweikard von Kronberg reigned his electorate from there. Following the plans of his architect to the court Emanuel Joseph Herigoyen, the elector and archbishop Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal had the interior of the castle re-designed in the classicist style at the end of the 18th century.

In World War II the castle was badly damaged by bombs in 1944 and 1945 and burned down almost completely. Soon the wish to reconstruct the castle emerged. The reconstruction of the cupolas of the towers turned out to be especially difficult – it was not possible to rebuild them one hundred per cent true to the original. Today the 17th century building houses different museums and collections. As the owner of the castle the Bavarian Administration of State Castles, Parks and Lakes (Bayerische Verwaltung der staatlichen Schlösser, Gärten und Seen) maintains its own exhibition rooms where original furnishings, paintings and a collection of cork-sculptures of antique architecture are displayed. The largest branch of the Bavarian State Paintings Collection includes important pictures by Lucas Cranach.

The central exhibition area of the Municipal Museums with collections concerning the city’s history and handicraft exhibits as well as paintings stretches across 1400 square metres. The works of Christian Schad and E. L. Kirchner as well as paintings of regional contemporary artists are to be seen. The castle houses furthermore part of the municipal collections with sculptures dating from the period when the castle was built, views of the city, guild artefacts, furniture and pottery.