The city's history began, when king Heinrich I in 929 founded the fortress „Misnia“ on the castle hill high above the Elbe river, named after a nearby creek. From 968 on Meissen became the see of the newly created Bishopric of Meissen as well as the residence of the Margraves of Meissen, afterwards mainly from the House of Wettin. The former market settlement at the foot of the fortress soon developed into a town (town charter 1332), eventually becoming one of the most important cities in the country and the cradle of Saxony.The building of the present castle, Albrechtsburg, was begun in 1471 in Late Gothic
style and is considered to be the first construction of a castle in German history.The construction of the adjacent Gothic cathedral was started in 1260. In 1425 the Prince's Chapel was added as the burial place of the House of Wettin. The twin steeples however were not attached until 1909. In 1581 the Meissen diocese was dissolved during the Protestant Reformation. Since 1979 the cathedral has belonged to the diocese Dresden-Meißen.