Hornburg Castle

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Hornburg Castle
Hornburg Castle, 2008

Hornburg Castle, 2008

Creation time : First mentioned in 994
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Receive
Place: City of Hornburg
Geographical location 52 ° 1 '43.9 "  N , 10 ° 36' 26.4"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 1 '43.9 "  N , 10 ° 36' 26.4"  E
Hornburg Castle (Lower Saxony)
Hornburg Castle
Merian copper engraving from the town of Hornburg and Hornburg Castle around 1650
Aerial view of the castle, date unknown

The Hornberg Castle is located in the city of Hornburg in Lower Saxony and is its symbol .

description

The hilltop castle , located on a wedge-shaped hill, rises dominantly over the city. It consists of an oval core castle with an area of ​​about 40 × 100 meters, which is surrounded by a circular wall. The round keep has a wall thickness of three meters and a diameter of eleven meters. Elaborate kennels with three semicircular flank towers are grouped around the castle . From the outside of the castle, which was rebuilt in the 1920s, the castle wall and the residential building modeled on the palace can be seen.

history

It is believed that the castle was built from the first decades of the 9th century. The first documentary mention of the castle as Hornaburg dates back to 994. Konrad von Morsleben was Count of Morsleben and Hornburg in the 10th century . He was married to Amulrada, the sister of Magdeburg Archbishop Waltard . Her son Suitger von Morsleben, who was probably born on the Hornburg in 1005, entered the court chapel of Emperor Konrad II as a chaplain in 1035 . His son, King Heinrich III. appointed Suitger Bishop of Bamberg in 1040 and had him elected as Clement II as the first German Pope in December 1046 at the Synod of Sutri , at which three simultaneously incumbent popes were deposed .

The Hornburg was destroyed for the first time in 1113 by Emperor Heinrich V in disputes with the Saxon princes and immediately rebuilt. Another destruction took place in 1179 by Henry the Lion . After that, the rebuilt castle served as the seat of episcopal bailiffs in the Hornburg office in the 13th century.

During the 14th century the castle was pledged to the city of Braunschweig and in the 15th century to other pledges. The castle was destroyed for a third time in 1430 by the dukes Heinrich and Wilhelm von Braunschweig-Lüneburg . From the beginning of the 14th century, a settlement developed under the protection of the castle, which developed into the town of Hornburg.

In the 15th century, the castle was expanded like a fortress and had seven corner towers , a keep and three circular walls . During the Thirty Years' War , the castle was a target of imperial and Swedish troops. In 1626 Tilly's mercenaries stormed the castle, in 1630 the Swedes. In 1632 they handed the castle over to the imperial rider general Gottfried Heinrich zu Pappenheim . In 1645 it was destroyed again by the Swedish general Königsmarck . After this fifth destruction there was no further reconstruction; it then served as a quarry . In 1648 the castle ruins came to the Electorate of Brandenburg as a domain office .

The castle ruins have been privately owned since 1910. In 1927 it was partially reconstructed on the foundation walls by Georg Lüdecke based on an engraving by Merian from around 1650 and plans by the architect Bodo Ebhardt . In this historicizing forms used. From a distance, it gives the impression of a medieval castle. Viewed up close, the castle is a comfortable, contemporary residential building. 100 of the 800 m² of living space are taken up by stairs alone. The castle is connected to the city center by a steep path. It is still privately owned and cannot be visited.

literature

  • Hans Adolf Schultz : Burgen und Schlösser des Braunschweiger Land , Braunschweig 1980, Die Hornburg , pp. 84–86

Web links

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