Pyrmont Castle

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Entrance to the fortress and castle on a bridge over the moat

The Pyrmont Castle was residence or summer residence of the Count of Spiegelberg and Count von Waldeck-Pyrmont in today's Bad Pyrmont . The existing building dates from the 18th century. Today it houses a museum. The castle is part of the 16th century Pyrmont fortress .

history

Fortress and renaissance castle

Fortress and renaissance castle before the Thirty Years War

Count Friedrich VI. Von Spiegelberg, as the sovereign of the county of Pyrmont , built a fortress with a castle in it in the Pyrmont valley between 1526 and 1536 . He had experience with fortress construction through the reinforcement of the Coppenbrügge Castle with walls and rondelles . The fortress Pyrmont consisted of an almost square rampart with a 40 meter wide moat. The ramparts had casemates and a stone corner bastion , which echoes the Italian fortification manner. The fortress was accessed via a wooden bridge and later via a bascule bridge. Buildings were built within the ramparts and a first palace was built in the southwest area.

After the palace was completed in 1536, Count Friedrich VI, who resided in neighboring Lügde , moved in. Later the palace building became the side wing of a larger palace, which his son Philipp had built on in 1557 in the Weser Renaissance style . According to traditional views, it was a three-story building with three gables , similar to the design of the Hämelschenburg . In addition, a tower was built to archive documents. Philipp died before the renaissance castle was completed. The construction was completed by Hermann Simon von Lippe, his sister's husband. Then the Counts of Lippe and the Counts of Gleichen resided at the castle. In 1625 Count Hans Ludwig von Gleichen ceded the County of Pyrmont to the Counts of Waldeck .

During the Thirty Years' War the dispute between the diocese of Paderborn and the Counts of Waldeck revived. For the diocese, troops of General Pappenheim besieged the Pyrmont fortress in 1629. The 400-strong garrison surrendered after ten months. Swedish troops captured the fortress in 1633, and in 1636 it was recaptured by the imperial family . After the Swedes took it again in 1646, they handed the fortress over to the Counts of Waldeck in 1649. The castle was damaged by the sieges. Restored in a makeshift manner, it served the Counts of Waldeck as a summer residence. In the years that followed, it was neglected and began to deteriorate.

When Count Anton Ulrich von Waldeck-Pyrmont took over the regency in Waldeck and Pyrmont in 1706, he had the builder Hermann Korb build a new palace in the Baroque style. The building was built between 1706 and 1710 on the basement and other parts of the previous building. As early as 1721, the architect Julius Ludwig Rothweil expanded . A commandant's house, two cavalier houses and a warehouse building were built. The fortifications were repaired. In addition, the gardens were redesigned in the Baroque style . Further changes followed from 1765 under the building director Franz Friedrich Rothweil. Between 1852 and 1855, a number of buildings were added and the castle was given its current appearance.

  • Pyrmont Castle, 1790

  • Site plan of the castle, 1790

  • The castle around 1900

20th century

During the Second World War there was a military hospital in the castle , as Pyrmont was a hospital town. After the war, the British Red Cross had its seat in the castle until 1948. In 1956 the state of Lower Saxony acquired the fortress and castle from the princely family of Waldeck and Pyrmont. A first renovation took place from 1960 to 1962; another followed from 1978.

In the years from 1984 to 1987, the castle and fortifications were renovated by the architect Karl-Heinz Lorey and redesigned for use by the then district adult education center and as a museum for the history of the city of Pyrmont and the spa. In 2015 the museum was extensively redesigned. Since then, the permanent exhibition on the town and bath history of Pyrmont has been presented in a fresh, modern look. In the historic state rooms on the first floor, which can also be visited, special exhibitions are also held regularly. The palace complex is also used for various events. In the former commandant's house there has been a café and beer bar in the castle since 2017 .

  • Back of the lock

  • Interior of the castle

  • Commandant's House

  • Cavalier House

  • The museum's permanent exhibition in Bad Pyrmont Castle.

literature

  • Hans Härtel: Pyrmont Castle ( large architectural monuments , booklet 171). 2nd edition, Munich / Berlin 1972
  • Karl Theodor Menke: Pyrmont and its surroundings . 2nd Edition. Hameln and Pyrmont 1840, pp. 128-134 ( digitized version ).
  • Titus Malms: Belgian Nazi government in exile at Pyrmont Castle in: Deister and Weser newspaper of August 13, 2005

Web links

Commons : Pyrmont Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Lindau : Hanover. Reconstruction and destruction. The city in dealing with its architectural-historical identity , 2nd, revised edition, Hanover: Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft, 2001, ISBN 3-87706-607-0 , passim ; Preview over google books

Coordinates: 51 ° 59 ′ 0.8 ″  N , 9 ° 14 ′ 54.1 ″  E