Timetable from the support association:
1872: After a fire, the old hunting lodge Hummelshain was temporarily prepared for the engagement party of Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg to Prince Albrecht of Prussia.
1874: The garden artist Eduard Petzold suggests two locations for a new castle in a report.
1878: The Altenburg State Ministry commissions the Berlin “Office for Architecture and Decorative Arts” of Ernst Ihne & Paul Stegmüller with renovation plans for the Old Hunting Lodge, which, however, are not realized.
1879: Ihne & Stegmüller receive the contract to plan the New Palace.
1880–85: Construction work took five years instead of the planned three; Court architect Otto Brückwald (Leipzig) is responsible as general contractor for the realization of all construction work.
1885: On June 20th, Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Altenburg and his wife Agnes move into the castle, which serves as their summer residence and hunting retreat. In the absence of the “highest authorities” it is open to the public and becomes a tourist attraction.
1891, 1894: Kaiser Wilhelm II takes part in the court hunts in Hummelshain and lives in the New Palace.
1896: On the 70th birthday of Duke Ernst I, the bronze sculpture “Deer Group” by Adolf Lehnert (Leipzig) was installed at the palace.
1918–19: After Ernst II's abdication, the castle becomes the property of the Free State of Saxony-Altenburg. The furniture will be dismantled beforehand.
1920: Carl Gustav Vogel, owner of a Pößneck specialist magazine publisher (today Vogel Business Media) purchases the castle for 1,350,000 marks and uses it as a residence and for receiving business customers.
1944: On August 14th, the castle was confiscated and a hospital was set up for the REIMAHG armaments company.
1947: A children's and youth home is founded in the castle.
1952–1992: The castle and outbuildings are used as the “Honor of Work” youth center, which was considered a model facility in the GDR. From 1952 to 1992, around 5,500 young people lived and studied here.
1992: The castle, which is owned by the Free State of Thuringia, is empty and is to be sold; Projects such as a rehabilitation clinic and a community service school are being discussed.
1996: Hessischer Rundfunk shoots the feature film “A Castle for Rita”. The castle has repeatedly served as a filming location: in 2009 for the family saga “Krupp – A German Family” with Iris Berben, in 2010 the thriller “The Forbidden Girl”, the first 3D feature film shot in Germany, and in 2012 the documentary drama “Bismarck”.
1997: The roof underwent emergency repairs after multiple water damages. Castle tours are possible; the Hall of Mirrors serves as a registry office.
1998: The Free State of Thuringia sells the castle and park to a Leipzig company. The agreed complete renovation will not be carried out for financial reasons.
since 2010: The media and the support association founded in 1998 criticize the increasing deterioration of the castle.
2010–11: Repair of the emergency roofing and the stairwell skylights, installation of a new toilet facility; Renovation of the mirror room by the owner.
2012–13: Critical questions about the situation of the castle were made several times in the Thuringian state parliament.
2014: Roof securing measures and renovation of the “Hirschgruppe” monument by the support association.
2015: Comprehensive structural condition investigation with the support of the Landesentwicklungsgesellschaft (LEG) Thüringen mbH.
2016: The Free State of Thuringia grants the association funding for monument preservation for sustainable security measures.
2017: The New Palace is classified as an architectural monument of national importance by the expert committee of the Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM).
2018: The support association implements the first construction phase on the roof of the new hunting lodge.
2019: The support association receives the Thuringian Monument Protection Prize for its efforts.
2020: Renovation work continues on the roof of the new hunting lodge. The new book on the history of the Hummelshain castles will be published in December. In the castle park, the first barracks from the Second World War and the old garden center are being demolished.