Bodenteich Castle

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Manor house of the castle, behind the keep (2010)

The Bodenteich Fort is a former moated castle in Bad Bodenteich in the Uelzen district . It was built around 1250 as the seat of the noble family von Badendieck or Bodendike on an artificially filled castle hill in a damp lowland area. From the 14th to the 19th century, the castle served as an office building for the administration of the Bodenteich office . The preserved and reconstructed remains of the castle complex now represent a historical building ensemble that is used for cultural events.

Location and description

Bodenteich Castle is located on a mound of earth and was on the edge of a lake and a moor that were drained in the 18th century . The castle complex consisted of a front and a main castle . Nothing is known about the type of attachment. According to tradition, the complex was surrounded by double moats and walls.

The current castle buildings date from the time after the Hildesheim collegiate feud around 1520, as the castle was destroyed in the process. During archaeological excavations , a settlement layer with ceramic remains from the 9th to 10th centuries was discovered on the castle hill. The remains of a stone tower were found in the cellar of an earlier half-timbered building of the castle, which is attributed to the time the castle was built in the 13th century. It was eight meters in diameter and its two-meter thick walls were made of field stones . Next to the former tower, the mansion was later built , which was originally probably designed in a Gothic style. In the area of ​​the outer bailey there have been some farm buildings since modern times . This included a grain barn, a cattle, a pig and a sheep barn and a prison house.

The keep from the 14th century is located in the area of ​​the main castle . The mighty, almost square tower has external dimensions of around 11 meters. It has a wall thickness of 3.5 meters and was built from bricks . Its original height is estimated to be 30 meters. According to tradition, the lower room of the tower was the official prison in 1681. The three floors above served as granaries . After a major fire in Bodenteich in 1808, most of the tower was dismantled for the extraction of building material. Today it is 8.5 meters high and has a viewing platform at 4.5 meters.

history

Merian engraving of Bodenteich Castle, used as an official building, around 1650, with a pointed, church-like spire

Because of the settlement remains from the 9th / 10th centuries found on the castle hill. In the 19th century, it is believed that the first fortifications were built during this period. It could be used as a defense system for the Billunger against the advancement of the Wends to the west and could be part of a line of fortifications with systems in other places such as Bardowick and Lüneburg.

The first name bearer of the von Bodenteich family is mentioned around 1145 with Theoderico de Bodendiche . It is believed that the knights left a small moth in the village around 1200 and built the castle. It was first mentioned in a document in 1293. In it, Duke Otto II of Braunschweig and Lüneburg sold the right of the city of Lüneburg and the estates to mint . Around 1347 the castle was sold to the dukes of Lüneburg , who made it the official and court seat. From 1393 until Ludolf von Bodenteich was beheaded in Lüneburg in 1474, the castle was the seat of robber barons . During the Hildesheim collegiate feud , the castle was besieged and destroyed after the capture. When the Bodenteich district court was established in 1852 , it was located in the former castle until 1859. Until 1859 the castle was also the seat of the Bodenteich office . From 1871 to 1971 the castle buildings were privately owned as an estate . In 1971 the Flecken Bodenteich acquired the facility and placed it under monument protection in 1972 . In 1983 the castle buildings were restored. Today the area with its historical buildings serves as a place for various events such as shooting festivals , Christmas markets, music concerts, exhibitions, baking days and medieval markets . The resort administration and the castle museum have their headquarters in the historical building ensemble.

Bodenteicher Burgbräu

Bodenteicher brewery, rebuilt in 2005

In 1634 the clerk Georg Kratzmann set up a "brewery" at the castle. The dark beer brewed there was called "Knorrbock". In 1918 the brewing business was stopped due to the war and not resumed in the interwar period . The brewery was demolished in 1981 and rebuilt in 2005.

literature

Web links

Commons : Burg Bodenteich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Excursion destination Bodenteich Castle
  2. ↑ Bad Bodenteich Castle Museum
  3. ↑ http://www.uelzer-bier.de/html/bodenteich.html

Coordinates: 52 ° 50 ′ 3.8 "  N , 10 ° 40 ′ 59.5"  E