Schloss Johannisburg, until 1803 the second residence of the Mainz Kurerzbischöfe, is located in the center of Aschaffenburg on the banks of the Main. The huge four-wing complex, built between 1605 and 1614 under Archbishop Johann Schweikard von Kronberg, is one of the most important palace buildings of the German Renaissance. For this new building, the Strasbourg master builder Georg Ridinger took over from the medieval predecessor castle only the keep as the fifth tower. At the end of the 18th century, the interior of the castle was reconstructed in a classicist style according to the plans of architect Emanuel Joseph von Herigoyen. After the severe destruction in the Second World War, the exterior of the castle had to be restored before the first showrooms and collections with the salvaged pieces of equipment could be reopened in 1964.
To visit are a picture gallery with works of Lucas Cranach the Elder (branch museum of the Bavarian state painting collections), the castle chapel with renaissance altar, pulpit and portal sculptures of Hans Juncker, the parament chamber with ornates from the former Mainz cathedral treasure, the cork model collection of antique buildings, with Classicist furniture furnished princely living rooms and the Municipal Palace Museum.
Source: Bavarian Administration of State Castles, Gardens and Lakes