Bevern Castle

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Bevern Castle, 2013

The Bevern is located in Bevern in the south of Holzminden district in Lower Saxony . The palace is one of the most important architectural monuments of the Weser Renaissance and was built from 1603 to 1612 by Statius von Münchhausen on the site of an old manor house.

Building description

Bevern Castle consists of a two-storey four-wing building built around an almost square inner courtyard, the upper floors of which were originally accessed by two stair towers. The core structure is surrounded by a moat with two bridges, to the east of which the castle garden, which is now built over, adjoins, to the west the remains of the gatehouse and the castle barn. Originally, 14 farm buildings also belonged to the castle.

history

Castle tower
Entrance portals of the castle
Utlucht (stand bay at the castle)

Statius von Münchhausen , a son of the mercenary leader Hilmar von Münchhausen , who had come to great fortune , offspring of the black line of the Münchhausen family and one of the most important entrepreneurs of his time, had secured the feudal entitlement to this property in good time in 1584 , as it seemed possible that so far Resident noble family von Bevern in the male line would go out and then the fief would be withdrawn from the feudal lord and reissued. With Brun-Arndt of Bevern in 1588, the last legitimate male heir died of the von Bevern because his marriage was childless with Gertrude of Falkenberg. A non-declining bastard line continued to live in the place. From 1590 Statius von Münchhausen took over the Bevern fief, consisting of the Sattelhof , five Hufen Landes, six Kothöfen and half a tithe . Likewise, his father Hilmar had already held onto Wendlinghausen in 1566 , after he had already acquired numerous other goods - in particular the secularized Leitzkau monastery near Magdeburg in 1564 . Statius converted the latter into a renaissance castle from around 1593 with the help of stone masons from the Weser area . After he had completed this enormous building, he set about building Bevern Castle from 1603 to 1612, which was no less expensive.

The master builder is Johann Hundertossen from Hameln , who from 1596 also built the Schwedesdorf Palace in Lauenau for a cousin from the white line , Otto von Münchhausen. Numerous details both in Leitzkau and in Bevern suggest that the same craftsmen from the workshop of the stonemason Johann von Mehle were involved in it, who also rebuilt the Alfeld town hall in the Renaissance style in 1586. Statius had other castles built in Bodenwerder and Bolzum , which are more likely to be addressed as official seats ; also a total of nine churches in his manor villages, including his burial place, the St. Johanniskirche zu Bevern. He advised his cousin Jürgen Klencke on the construction of the Hämelschenburg .

In 1618, the builder ran into economic difficulties due to the inflation of the tipper and luffing times . He was finally the victim of an intrigue of the so-called "Regiment of the disloyal Drosten" of Duke Friedrich Ulrich von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. He had to declare his bankruptcy due to the demands of his creditors and under the pressure of the financial demands of 240,000 thalers , which one of the ducal councilors, Colonel Arndt von Wopersnow , the husband of Statius von Münchhausen's niece, raised by buying promissory notes . He kept the castle and the Bevern fiefdom in the context of compulsory administration by Duke Friedrich Ulrich von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. By petitioning, also to the emperor, Statius managed to have a balance sheet drawn up. This showed that his total assets of 1,320,565 thalers exceeded his debts of 1,011,484 thalers. With the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War , further proceedings stalled.

On March 27, 1633 Statius von Münchhausen died and was buried in the church of Bevern. His widow Dorothea von Bothmer had to cede the castle to Duke August the Younger of Braunschweig and Lüneburg, who used it as a hunting lodge and office building . During the Thirty Years' War, Holzminden was burned down by imperial troops in 1640 . Dorothea von Bothmer prevented the castle from being occupied with the help of Brunswick soldiers. In 1652, at the age of 72, she left the castle, where soldiers were constantly quartered, and was given a farm in Höxter . The castle remained unused until 1666, and only after violent inheritance disputes and an inheritance settlement, the Duke's youngest son, Ferdinand Albrecht I (the “miraculous von Bevern”) received the castle with an annual allowance of 8800 thalers and Fundamental rights as a residence. With the takeover as a residence on June 5, 1667, he founded the ducal branch Braunschweig-Bevern (existing until 1884). In the same year Ferdinand Albrecht I married Christine von Hessen-Eschwege; The marriage resulted in eleven children. The ducal residence reflected the interests of the duke, who set up an art chamber and one of the first theaters in northern Germany. A court printer was used to publish their own works. Like his ruling half-brothers in Braunschweig, he claimed jurisdiction over the neck . In April 1671, the only execution took place in the castle courtyard. Burgrave Johann Stahlmann was sentenced to death for the shooting of Bernhard Wienecken, the Duke's personal servant, and beheaded after cutting off a hand. Ferdinand Albrecht I died on April 23, 1687, and the castle served as a widow's residence for Christine von Hessen-Eschwege. The duke's sons were brought up in Wolfenbüttel.

18th century

In 1704 the heirs of Statius von Münchhausen received only 16,000 thalers in a settlement. In 1713 the castle was divided into inheritance between Ernst Ferdinand and Ferdinand Albrecht II. The chapel in the castle was moved from the upper floor to the rooms below by December 19, 1717.

With Ferdinand Albrecht II , the line acquired the reign in the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel in 1734/1735 . His son Anton Ulrich von Braunschweig was born here on August 28, 1714 . In 1746, Duke August Wilhelm , who was in Prussian service, inherited the castle; In contrast to his younger siblings Friedrich Georg and Marie Anna, he rarely stayed in Bevern. From 1773 the court no longer existed. In 1781 Duke Friedrich Karl Ferdinand inherited the castle, but only occasionally used it as a summer residence. The Field Marshal General, who was in Danish service, resided in Copenhagen and Glücksburg. In 1793 Friedrich Karl Ferdinand founded the Bevern Poor Foundation .

The castle was used as a residence by the members of the Braunschweig-Bevern branch line until the late 18th century. In 1798 it became a retirement home for former employees. A council of commerce temporarily ran a button factory in the castle.

19th century

Bevern Castle around 1850

In 1802 there were plans to set up an educational institution for young women . In 1806, after the French annexation of the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, the castle became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia . After the wars of liberation and with the death of Friedrich Karl Ferdinand in 1809, the younger house in Braunschweig-Bevern went out. His inheritance initially fell to his widow Anna Karoline, a daughter of Prince Wilhelm Heinrich , who stayed in Glücksburg. With the death of Anna Karoline in 1824 the property fell to the Duchy of Braunschweig . From then on, the castle served as a residence for merited heroes of the wars of liberation and retired court servants. In 1830 the outer gate was demolished.

From 1832 to 1834, after extensive renovation, a ducal reformatory and work establishment, the so-called “Correctionsanstalt” with apartments and workshops, was set up. In 1835 a fire started by a corrector destroyed the southeast tower. On August 17, 1839, there was an uprising by correctors in which two workrooms burned out. The Beveraner vigilantes put down the uprising. In 1855 there was a fire in the flax magazine in the eastern part of the castle. On December 22nd, 1870, the “Correctionsanstalt” was closed and all adults were relocated to Wolfenbüttel. Around 3000 people were reeducated in the 30 years. Correctors could not leave the institution until after five years at the earliest. On December 22nd, 1870, the institution was converted into the Duke of Brunswick Educational Institution Wilhelmsstift for orphaned children . Children and adolescents from 7 to 15 years of age, and from 1890 also up to 20 years of age, were admitted to the educational institution. School rooms, living rooms, workshops, from 1882 a gymnasium, stable building and from 1889 a hospital with a children's home were built. A new chapel with a new organ was also built. The Braunschweig court decoration and church painter Adolf Quensen designed the wall paintings in the Wilhelmsstift. In 1918 the educational institution belonged to the Free State of Braunschweig .

20th century

Bevern Castle, around 1909
Palace facade and moat, 2010

During the time of National Socialism , the Free State of Braunschweig transferred the castle to the SA from 1933 , which used it as a sports school. From 1935 to 1945, the castle was used as a barracks by sub-units of pioneer battalions of the Wehrmacht. a. from Pioneer Battalion 20 (supplementary company) and Pioneer Battalion 56 (supplementary company). From 1939 the supplementary company Pioneer Battalion 56 became the 5th company of the Pioneer Battalion 19. After the outbreak of the Second World War , only the Infantry Pioneer Replacement Battalion 216 was housed in the pioneer barracks Castle Bevern, as well as the pioneers for a short time - Replacement Company 71.

After the conquest by US troops in May 1945, a transitional and refugee camp for Russian and Polish prisoners of war and forced labor was set up in the castle, and from 1947 to 1949 a DP camp for around 800 homeless Latvians was set up. In 1949 the castle fell to the Braunschweig United Monastery and Study Fund, founded in 1569, as the legal successor to the Free State of Braunschweig. Due to the enormous renovation costs for the castle, the foundation was looking for a new owner. The estimated value of DM 811,855 ultimately led to a purchase price claim of DM 218,000. After several years of negotiations, Flecken Bevern bought the property from the Braunschweig United Monastery and Study Fund for DM 100,000 in 1957. The Holzminden district had offered DM 50,000. From then on, the community used the castle to rent it out as living space, a clubhouse and a temporary school. The west wing of the castle was used as a warehouse for a furniture wholesaler (Hinze company). The castle chapel was made available to the Catholic parish from 1947 to 1968. Significant outbuildings such as the castle barn, the brewery, the smithy, the poor house, the laundry and the domain leaseholder building were sold by the municipality of Bevern.

A local history museum has been located in the castle since 1976 and shows items from the collection on the history of Bevern as well as minerals and fossils. In 1981, with funds from the State of Lower Saxony, the restoration of the castle in the sense of the state of 1897 began, as a restoration of the state of 1717 did not seem feasible. The restored palace chapel was opened on December 15, 1984. In 1986 the Holzminden district took over the castle from the municipality of Bevern. The district restored parts of the building, expanded it for exhibitions and integrated a renowned restaurant, which was managed by Manfred Kobinger. On May 19, 1987, a Friends of Castle Bevern was founded as a support association, which from 1996 became a cultural organizer parallel to the cultural department of the Holzminden district. Since 1988 there have also been exhibitions in the northwest area of ​​the upper floor, including a. the international exhibitions The Balts (1988), Treasures of the Ostrogoths (1995), The Vandals (2004) (among others, Poland supported the exhibition with 2.9 million DM) or The Silver Horse. Archaeological Treasures between the Black Sea and the Caucasus (2010).

The Weserrenaissanceschloss is now a cultural center with a concert and theater program as well as changing exhibitions. Since 2008 the castle has also been the location of the Renaissance Adventure World (EWR).

The new west facade of Bevern Castle was repainted by June 2012. From January 14, 2012 there was a large exhibition on the 400th anniversary of the castle with the title “If you are not good, you come to Bevern!” In the Weser Renaissance Castle Bevern cultural center, which told of the eventful history of the castle and its residents. This was accompanied by several theater projects. From September to November 2012, in cooperation with four other museums, there was the joint exhibition “From the Pottland to the World” on the historic pottery region between the Weser and Leine .

literature

  • Erich Sander: Bevern Castle through the ages . Bevern 1990.
  • Bernd Krämer, Frank Zadach-Buchmeier: Bevern Castle, client and structure ISBN 3-980330001 .
  • Holger Reimers, Klaus Thönes, Horst Masuch: Bevern Castle: Built history as a task , Jonas-Verlag, Marburg 1996, ISBN 3-89445-195-5 .
  • Frank Zadach-Buchmeier: Integrate and exclude. Processes of social discipline. The Bevern labor and reformatory in the Duchy of Braunschweig on the way to the welfare educational institution (1834 to 1870) , Hahnsche Buchhandlung Hannover, ISBN 3-775260129 .
  • Bevern Palace 1603 to 1612. Münchhausenbau - ducal residence - cultural center, publication of the Holzminden district - issue 2, 1987 with texts by Bernd Krämer, Walter Dormann and Christian Leiber .
  • Ernst Andreas Friedrich : Bevern Castle. S. 178–180, In: If stones could talk. Volume III, Landbuch-Verlag, Hanover 1995, ISBN 3-7842-0515-1 .
  • Gesine Schwarz: The knight seats of the old country of Braunschweig. Göttingen 2008, pp. 275-281.

Web links

Commons : Schloss Bevern  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Albert Franz Ludwig Neukirch (1884–1963): Renaissance castles of Lower Saxony. Text volume second half, Hanover 1939
  2. ↑ In detail: Anke Neugebauer, On the importance of building and art history. In: Schloss Leitzkau , Halle 2005
  3. ↑ On the regiment of the disloyal Drosten : Wilhelm Havemann : History of the Lande Braunschweig and Lüneburg. Volume 2, Göttingen 1855, p. 582 ff.
  4. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from November 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rohrmeisterei-schwerte.de
  5. ↑ http://www.pottland.de/fileadmin/user_upload/pottland/pottland__katalog_verkleinert.pdf


Coordinates: 51 ° 51 ′ 25.7 "  N , 9 ° 29 ′ 46.5"  E