In the 12th century, the lords of Konradsburg Castle had a new, namesake ancestral seat built above the Selke River: Falkenstein Castle. With its fortified walls and the keep towering above it, it offers an impressive panorama. Falkenstein is the best preserved castle in the Harz Mountains.
Step by step, the Counts of Falkenstein expanded their influence in the Harz Mountains. Thus, in the 13th century, they gained the bailiwick over Quedlinburg Abbey. Their growing position was reflected in the expansion of the castle. In 1322, Count Burchard V transferred the castle and dominion to the bishopric of Halberstadt. With his death in 1334 the dynasty became extinct.
In 1437 the Bishop of Halberstadt transferred the Falkenstein to the Lords of the Asseburg. Their building activity formed the present image of the castle. At the beginning of the 19th century, Busso II opened the complex to the romantic wanderers, who saw the Falkenstein as an ideal knight’s castle. In 1840 Ludwig I attained the dignity of Count of the Asseburg-Falkenstein.

Caption of the historical picture
View of the Falkenstein around 1840, print by the lithographer Ludwig Erhard Lütke, E. H. Schroeder-Verlag, Berlin, property of the Cultural Foundation of Saxony-Anhalt