Natural History Museum Bertholdsburg Castle

Bertholdsburg Castle is an early modern castle in the town of Schleusingen in the Hildburghausen district in Thuringia. It is located on the western edge of the old town above the confluence of the Erle and Nahe rivers. The castle was named after Berthold VII, the most important member of the House of Henneberg.

The historical monument Bertholdsburg Castle has belonged to the “Thuringian Castles and Gardens Foundation” based in Rudolstadt since 1994. The use of the Bertholdsburg as a museum began in the first half of the 20th century. A few years after the founding of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the exhibition space was expanded: Under the title “Henneberger Heimatmuseum”, exhibitions on regional history – especially from the urban and rural world of Schleusingen – were shown.

The focus of today’s Historical Museum and the Regional History Collection is on the history of the county of Henneberg(-Schleusingen) and on the town history of Schleusingen and its surroundings (Henneberger Land). With the so-called “Henneberger Coin Treasure”, which was acquired in 2014 and is continuously supplemented and expanded, the Natural History Museum has a unique collection of silver coins from the 13th to 16th centuries.

However, for structural reasons, only a few pieces of the coin collection are kept in the castle, presented in a small room (though the presentation is growing due to new treasure finds in the region). Currently (2024) an expansion and redesign of the regional history permanent exhibitions is planned. After that, the coins minted by the Counts of Henneberg and their time can also be presented appropriately.

Individual exhibits can already be viewed in the Digital State Museum of Thuringia.

Text: Sturm, Erfurter Münzfreunde e.V