Freyburg

Freyburg lies on the Unstrut beneath Neuenburg Castle. The Thuringian count Ludwig the Springer built the castle around 1090 to protect his eastern lands, and Hermann I founded the town below it in the late twelfth century. Its regular market square and walls served both the castle and the crossing of the river. Terraced vineyards on the nearby slopes have been cultivated since the Middle Ages. The Wettins later acquired Neuenburg, and Freyburg remained part of Saxony until the nineteenth century.