Lauenau Castle

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Lauenau Castle, formerly a moated castle

Lauenau Castle is a former moated castle in Lauenau in Lower Saxony , which was built in the 16th century in the Weser Renaissance style on the remains of a moated castle from the 12th century.

history

Moated castle

Depiction of Lauenau Castle around 1520 during the Hildesheim collegiate feud , drawing by Johannes Krabbe from 1591

Around 1190, after his return from a crusade , Duke Heinrich the Lion had Lauenau Castle built as a moated castle. It served as a border fortress against the Schaumburg counts , who had taken his lands during his absence. He chased away the Schaumburgers with his sons and established the castle, which soon became a ducal court. The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1307. The Guelphs pledged the castle to Burgmannen and in this way it came to Count Adolf von Schaumburg in 1331 . In the following centuries the castle was regularly pledged to castle men by the Brunswick dukes until 1512. There were frequent conflicts over the amount of the pledge and the political views of the pledgee. In 1512 the castle ownership changed from the Schaumburg counts back to the Welfs. During the Hildesheim collegiate feud , the castle was besieged by the Schaumburg colonel Ludolf von Münchhausen. The castle garrison surrendered against free withdrawal. The Schaumburgers destroyed the castle to the ground so that it could not be used against them again.

Moated castle

The moated castle as a detail from the 1654 Merian engraving by Lauenau

Count Otto IV of Schaumburg and Holstein had the reconstruction carried out from 1565 to 1572. A moated castle in the style of the Weser Renaissance was built on the foundation walls of the moated castle . It was built on two floors as a four-wing complex. The closed inner courtyard measured 21 × 18 m. The castle was surrounded on three sides by a moat, which can be seen on the Merian engraving from 1654. The west wing of the complex was the residential building, which had a cellar with a cross vault. A ballroom was set up in the east wing.

In 1694 and 1695, Princess Sophie Dorothee was held at Lauenau Castle for three months as the wife of Georg Ludwig von Hanover . During this time her divorce proceedings took place because of a rumored love affair with Count Philipp Christoph von Königsmarck , after which she was exiled to Ahlden Castle .

In 1727 the palace complex was given lateral support pillars, as the foundations, which were based on oak piles, were damaged by the building load.

Until 1852 the office of Lauenau had its seat in the castle. In 1866 the castle and its agricultural domain were nationalized and leased by Prussia . Around 1950 the palace complex came into private ownership and was noticeably deteriorating. The current owners, the Brenneisen couple, do their best to maintain the complex.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Schloss Lauenau  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 52 ° 16 '27.1 "  N , 9 ° 21' 49.9"  E