Altena Castle stands on a rocky ridge towering high above the Lennetal Valley. The historically protected fortress from the 12th century is considered one of the most beautiful hill castles in Germany and attracts thousands of visitors to the Märkisches Sauerland region every year. As part of a modernisation project, the exterior lighting of the castle was renewed in collaboration with BEGA Licht. The historic walls can now be illuminated with coloured light, according to the occasion and time of year.
After many years of intensive use, the existing lighting of the castle no longer met requirements – a complete overhaul was needed. The desire for a highly flexible solution with multicoloured lighting scenarios arose from visitors’ enthusiasm for the annual “GlanzLicht” event, when lighting artists bathe the castle in spectacular colours using mobile luminaires. Accordingly, the clearly defined, ambitious goal was to install a modern, energy-efficient and dynamically coloured lighting solution that can be flexibly controlled online. At the same time, the existing luminaire positions and cable routing were to be kept largely as is, to preserve the historically protected building. In the course of the modernisation, BEGA RGBW floodlights were installed, enabling a wide variety of colour scenarios.
After dark, an atmospheric display of colour unfolds on the north, south and west side of the castle. BEGA luminaires bathe the facades in cool violet and warm red tones, impressively highlighting the characterful structure of the walls. The lighting mood can be flexibly adapted to the changing requirements of different events at any time – both for the regular winter programme, as well as for special, limited-time crowd magnets like the GlanzLicht event from November to early January. The indoor areas of the castle have also been incorporated in the new lighting design: The DJH Youth Hostel, towers, paths and inner courtyards, as well as the entire upper courtyard benefit from the new concept. With the new, individually programmable lighting solution, Altena Castle becomes the changeable backdrop for cultural highlights that make a lasting impact of the townscape and shine their light far beyond the local region.
Different BEGA luminaires are used, depending on the distance and size of the illuminated surfaces. RGBW performance and high-performance floodlights mounted on poles add targeted accents, while RGBW wall washers uniformly illuminate the historic walls from the ground. Consequently, the new light installation significantly enhances the visitor experience at Altena Castle. This is demonstrated both by the increased number of visitors to events and the castle's rapidly growing following on social media.
Client Märkische Kulturstiftung Burg Altena
Lighting design Silberstreif-Planungsgruppe, Krefeld
Electrical engineering design Plan-Forum, Eslohe
Landscape planning lighting Dipl.-Ing. Alexandra Weber, Lüdenscheid
Electrical engineering Jörg Gensmann GmbH, Heiligenroth
Landscaping lighting GALA-Bau Frey GmbH, Lüdenscheid
