Lutter Castle

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Lutter Castle
Lutter Castle, from left: barn, caretaker's house, hall, day laborer's house, behind the keep

Burg Lutter, from left: barn , caretaker's house, Palas , day laborers house , behind the keep

Creation time : First mentioned in 1259
Castle type : Niederungsburg
Conservation status: received or received substantial parts
Standing position : Nobles
Place: Lutter am Barenberge
Geographical location 51 ° 59 '11 "  N , 10 ° 16' 14"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 59 '11 "  N , 10 ° 16' 14"  E
Lutter Castle (Lower Saxony)
Lutter Castle

The Burg Lutter is located in the town of Lutter am Barenberge in Lower Saxony. The castle, first mentioned in 1259, was originally a moated castle and has served as an agricultural domain since the Thirty Years' War . Since 1980 it has been owned by the Lutter municipality , whose members inhabit, manage and maintain it structurally.

Building description

The 4  hectare former castle grounds are now surrounded by farm buildings in the shape of a horseshoe, which form a large inner courtyard. From the Middle Ages the castle only a high witness dungeon and a four-story Gothic palace . The keep has a side length of 8.5 m. The walls are about 1.5 m thick. Originally the tower was free-standing and it was only in the 17th century that a three-story building was added to it. The respective domain tenant resided in this generous office building. The palace building, which was probably built in 1318, has two bricked-up Gothic windows and has walls up to 2 m thick. In the Middle Ages, it was a representative building for parties and official acts. The large hall rooms on each floor, which occupy the entire floor, bear witness to this time. It was later used as a brewery .

The other farm buildings in the castle courtyard, such as barns, riding arena, day laborer's house and administrator's house were rebuilt in the 18th and 19th centuries or were built during this time. At that time, the impression of an earlier moated castle also disappeared due to the leveling of the surrounding moat . In addition, the walls were also removed. Parts of the fortifications were also demolished for the construction of commercial buildings. Originally two drawbridges led to the site. Remnants of the moat and wall are still preserved in the west of the complex, where a double wall system was present.

history

The castle on a representation of the Battle of Lutter from 1626
Lutter Castle with village as Merian - copperplate engraving 1654

The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1259, but was probably built around the year 1000 as a moated castle. At that time the bishop Johann von Hildesheim acquired the castle from the knight Ekbert von Lutter. Lehnsnehmer the castle has long been the knights of those of Lutter, which can be demonstrated by 1189 to its extinction 1,403th The family is said to have been very feudal and pillaged in the neighborhood. In 1270 the castle complex, now in the possession of the bishop, was re-fortified. It had the function of an official seat and a border castle. In 1279 it was besieged by Hildesheim Bishop Siegfried II and the Brunswick Duke Otto the Strict . From 1307 the Brunswick Duke Heinrich der Wunderliche was the owner of the castle. His heirs sold the complex in 1323 to the diocese of Hildesheim , with whom it remained for over 300 years. During this time, several noble families became pledge holders, from 1311 those of Oberg , the last of which, von Schwicheldt, worked as robber barons. The castle was therefore taken from them again in 1427 after 24 years of fiefdom. During the Hildesheim collegiate feud in 1523, Lutter Castle finally fell to the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel , after it had previously been a constant bone of contention between Braunschweig and the Hildesheim Monastery.

During the Thirty Years War , the heavily fortified castle served the Danes as a defensive structure. After their military defeat in the Battle of Lutter , the castle was occupied by Count Tilly's troops. After that, the complex was an agricultural state domain for centuries. In 1964 the domain was dissolved and the lands were sold. Since then, the buildings had been left to decay. The listed Schäferhof from the 15th century and individual smaller buildings were demolished. The municipality of Lutter did not take over the castle grounds because of the enormous renovation costs. For a few years the site was owned by a construction company who wanted to invest but went bankrupt.

Todays use

Advertising sign for the Lutter Group

Since 1980 the castle has been owned by the Lutter municipality, which officially operates under the name of Lutter-Gruppe GbR . It is a group of originally 20-30, and in 2009 around 10 people. The relatives live together as a commune without any ruling structures on an anarchist basis .

The new residents, who reject hierarchical structures and wage-dependent work, made the former castle their living and working place. They set up smaller businesses on the site. Almost every year they renovate and restore the historical building fabric in accordance with the protection of monuments during larger campaigns . Traditional methods and historical building materials are used. A total renovation is not possible due to the limited financial resources. In contrast to many other restored historical facilities, the original character has been preserved here.

The economic facilities of today's residents in the former castle complex are:

literature

  • Hans Adolf Schultz : Castles and palaces of the Braunschweiger Land. Braunschweig 1980, Die Burg Lutter am Barenberge , pp. 129–130, ISBN 3-87884-012-8 .
  • Margret Zimmermann, Hans Kensche: Castles and palaces in Hildesheimer Land . Hildesheim, 2001, pp. 99-102

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lutter commune . Retrieved March 28, 2011.