Rothehof (castle)

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Rothehof
Castle hill of Rothehof Castle in the Wolfsburg city forest

Castle hill of Rothehof Castle in the Wolfsburg city forest

Creation time : around 1200
Castle type : Niederungsburg, moth
Conservation status: Burgstall, wall, tower hill
Place: Wolfsburg - Rothehof
Geographical location 52 ° 24 ′ 30 "  N , 10 ° 46 ′ 58"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 24 ′ 30 "  N , 10 ° 46 ′ 58"  E
Rothehof (Lower Saxony)
Rothehof

Rothehof Castle is an abandoned Niederungsburg in the style of a medieval hilltop castle (Motte) in the Wolfsburg city ​​forest near the Rothehof residential area in Lower Saxony .

The small castle complex was built around 1200 and was first mentioned in a document in 1304. It was a fortified residence of the Rothehofer line of the von Bartensleben line . In 1983 it was declared an archaeological ground monument .

location

The remains of the former tower hill castle are located on one of the foothills of the Rothe mountain and not far from the historic Rothehof residential area in the Rabenberg district of Wolfsburg . They are located directly on the Stemmelriede stream in the middle of the forest. A nearby street has been named the castle wall because of the medieval layout .

history

The castle complex was first mentioned in a document in 1304, when Kunigunde von Bartensleben received the Rothehof and its accessories. At the time, Rothehof Castle was the fortified residence of a knight and his family who rose from the rank of ministerial to the lower nobility in the 13th and 14th centuries . The strategic task of the castle was probably to protect and control the nearby trade route through the Aller valley . In 1362 the von Bartensleben family is mentioned as the owner of the Rothen Hoff . It was probably the Rothehofer line of the widely ramified sex, whose members were already sitting on Wolfsburg at that time .

investment

A stone tablet directly at the castle site gives an idea of ​​its possible earlier appearance
Sketch of the location of Rothehof Castle
Stream loop of the Stemmelriede and rampart of the castle

Today the former tower hill castle, also known as the motte , is still easily recognizable through the approximately 3 m high castle hill. It has the dimensions of about 12 m × 15 m. There is a 5 m × 5 m indentation on the dome, which gives the impression of a former cellar. At the edges of the depression there are still wall foundations on which a wooden or stone tower block stood. A wall surrounded the complex, on the crown of which there were no doubt palisades . One side of the castle is protected by the Stemmelriede brook .

According to medieval fragments, the castle dates to the beginning of the 13th century and is around 100 years older than Wolfsburg, which was built around 1300 and is around 3 km away . Since the broken fragments broke off in the 15th century, the complex fell into desolation and was abandoned by its residents in favor of Wolfsburg and Neuhaus Castle .

archeology

In 1938 a high school teacher interested in local history discovered the old ramparts in the forest from the city ​​of the KdF-Wagen , as Wolfsburg was called at that time. The city administration he instructed advocated an excavation, as a destruction of the castle ruins was feared because of the foundation of the city. The archaeological investigation planned for September 1939 by the Hannoversche Landesmuseum was not carried out on September 1, 1939 because the Second World War broke out.

In 1983 the facility was inspected by the former Institute for Monument Preservation in Hanover as part of the archaeological survey of the state. It was described as being in excellent condition and has since held the status of an archaeological ground monument . The Wolfsburg Association for Homeland Care put up a stone tablet to commemorate the castle site.

See also

literature

Web links

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