Teufelsburg is a castle ruin in Felsberg in the community of Überherrn, Saarland. It lies to the west of Saarlouis on the edge of the middle Saartal. The castle is north of Felsberg and is easily reached from Upper Felsberg as well as via the Vauban-Steig, a designated premium hiking path. The castle offers its visitors a sweeping overview of the Saartal and the Hunsrück.
Following the destruction of the Altenfelsberg Castle in 1341 by the electoral prince and archbishop Baldwin of Luxembourg, Duke Johann I of Lorraine built this spur castle from 1354 to 1360. The first documented reference to the castle dates to 1370, and the first knight of Neufelsberg Castle was Arnold von Filsberg - a grandson of Arnold von der Brücke, Lord of Siersburg and Felsberg. The final historical reference to the castle occurs in 1699 when it was already in ruins and no longer inhabited. The stones from the castle were used in 1680 by the French for the building of the fortified city of Saarlouis.
The ruins are made up of the remnants of two castles – an upper, older castle and a lower castle. Following a complete measurement of the castle grounds by Bernd Richter, a model of the lower castle was created that ultimately led to the site's excavation and the lower castle's rebuilding in 1968 according to the existing foundations with a restoration that lasted from 2009 to 2010. By contrast, after being plundered for stones in 1680, the upper castle was never restored.
References:The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.