What does Schloss mean?

The short version: Schloss is the German word for a castle or palace of the residential kind — a building meant to be lived in and looked at, rather than defended. English has no single word for it, which is why Schloss Moritzburg gets translated as Moritzburg Castle and the translation is a little wrong. This one was built as a hunting seat, and that is closer to the truth than either word.

Why the English word misleads

Say castle in English and most people picture something with arrow slits. Schloss Moritzburg has none. It is a baroque country seat with four round towers, standing in a lake, built to hold hunting parties and to be seen from a distance. Duke Moritz of Saxony put a hunting lodge here between 1542 and 1546; Augustus the Strong had it remodelled into what you see between 1723 and 1733. The building history.

The name itself

Moritzburg is Moritz’s fortress, after the duke who built the first house here. The village took its name from the building rather than the other way round. Where it is.

And now the useful part

If you came here to work out whether the building is worth a day, the answer depends less on vocabulary than on the month. The castle swaps its entire contents twice a year at the same price: baroque rooms until 1 November, nothing at all for three weeks, then the Cinderella exhibition until the end of February. Whether it is worth the journey, and what it costs.

Frequently asked questions

What does Schloss mean in German?

A castle or palace of the residential kind — a building meant to be lived in rather than defended. English has no exact equivalent.

Is Schloss Moritzburg a castle or a palace?

Neither word fits well. It was built as a hunting seat: a baroque country house with four round towers, standing on an artificial island. Who built it.

What does the name Moritzburg mean?

Moritz’s fortress, after Duke Moritz of Saxony, who built the first hunting lodge here between 1542 and 1546. The village is named after the building.