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Alte Burg (Osterode)
The Alte Burg is a ruined spur castle that only comprises half a ''bergfried'' and is located in the Lower Saxon district of Osterode in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. The name means "Old Castle". Location The ruins stand on a hill spur between the valleys of the rivers Söse and Lerbach. Today the ruins find themselves within a cemetery. The castle ruins cannot actually be visited even though access through the cemetery is possible. Site Of the old castle on a site measuring 40 x 60 metres, only a small part of the ''bergfried'' has survived. The greater part of the castle was used as a quarry and much of the stone was carried away. The remaining tower ruins were extensively repaired. Originally the round ''bergfried'' was 33 metres high and had an outside diameter of 15 metres. Its walls were up to 3.5 metres thick and it had 5 stories. History The castle was first recorded in 1153. It belonged in the 12th century to Henry the Lion. After his death, his son, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hill Castle
A hill castle or mountain castle is a castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain. It is a term derived from the German ''Höhenburg'' used in categorising castle sites by their topographical location. Hill castles are thus distinguished from lowland castles (''Niederungsburgen''). Hill castles may be further subdivided depending on their situation into the following: * Hilltop castle (''Gipfelburg''), that stands on the summit of a hill with steep drops on all sides. A special type is the rock castle or ''Felsenburg''. * Ridge castle (''Kammburg''), that is built on the crest of a ridge. * Hillside castle (''Hangburg''), that is built on the side of a hill and thus is dominated by rising ground on one side. * Spur castle (''Spornburg''), that is built on a hill spur surrounded by steep terrain on three sides and thus only needs to be defended on the one remaining side. When in the 10th and 11th centuries castles lost their pure fortress charact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osterode Am Harz
Osterode am Harz, often simply called Osterode (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Ostroe''), is a town in south-eastern Lower Saxony, Niedersachsen on the south-western edge of the Harz mountains. It was the seat of government of the Landkreis, district of Osterode (district), Osterode. Osterode is located on the German Timber-Frame Road. Geography Water The Söse river flows through the town from the Söse Dam lake about 5 km upstream. The dam was built in 1931 and has a capacity of 25.5 million m³. The Harzwasserwerke water company pipes drinking water as far away as Bremen. Districts The following districts (mainly surrounding villages) are part of the borough of Osterode am Harz, with populations in brackets (as of 1 July 2012): * Dorste (1,650) * Düna (140) * Förste (2,000) * Freiheit (2,100) * Kazenstein (1,200) * Lasfelde (1,300) * Lerbach, Osterode am Harz, Lerbach (1,000) * Marke (150) * Nienstedt am Harz (440) * Osterode am Harz (11,500) * Petershü ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruin
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate destruction by humans, or uncontrollable destruction by natural phenomena. The most common root causes that yield ruins in their wake are natural disasters, armed conflict, and population decline, with many structures becoming progressively derelict over time due to long-term weathering and scavenging. There are famous ruins all over the world, with notable sites originating from ancient China, the Indus Valley and other regions of ancient India, ancient Iran, ancient Israel and Judea, ancient Iraq, ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, Roman sites throughout the Mediterranean Basin, and Incan and Mayan sites in the Americas. Ruins are of great importance to historians, archaeologists and anthropologists, whether they were once individual fort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spur Castle
A spur castle is a type of medieval fortification that is sited on a spur of a hill or mountain for defensive purposes. Ideally, it would be protected on three sides by steep hillsides; the only vulnerable side being that where the spur joins the hill from which it projects. By contrast, a ridge castle is only protected by steep terrain on two sides. Description A spur castle was one of several types of hill castle. Depending on the local topography, a spur castle may have relied mainly on its inaccessible position or may have integrated further features such as shield walls and towers into the defences. In addition castle builders may have improved the natural defences of the terrain by hewing into them to make the hillsides harder to climb and reduce the risk of landslide. A classic feature is the neck ditch, cutting off the spur from the rest of the hill. A long spur castle is sometimes, but not always, subdivided into a lower ward and a more strongly defended upper ward (or e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bergfried
''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Spanish: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries and in countries under German influence. Friar describes it as a "free-standing, fighting-tower".Friar (2003), p 36. Its defensive function is to some extent similar to that of a keep (also known as a ''donjon'') in English or French castles. However, the characteristic difference between a bergfried and a keep is that a bergfried was typically not designed for permanent habitation. Overview The living quarters of a castle with a bergfried are separate, often in a lower tower or an adjacent building called a ''palas'' (an English-style keep combines both functions of habitation and defence.) Consequently, a bergfried could be built as a tall slender tower with little internal room, few vaults and few if any windows. The bergfried served as a watchtower and as a ref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harz Mountains
The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German word ''Hardt'' or ''Hart'' (hill forest). The name ''Hercynia'' derives from a Celtic name and could refer to other mountain forests, but has also been applied to the geology of the Harz. The Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz with an elevation of above sea level. The Wurmberg () is the highest peak located entirely within the state of Lower Saxony. Geography Location and extent The Harz has a length of , stretching from the town of Seesen in the northwest to Eisleben in the east, and a width of . It occupies an area of , and is divided into the Upper Harz (''Oberharz'') in the northwest, which is up to 800 m high, apart from the 1,100 m high Brocken massif, and the Lower Harz (''Unterharz'') in the east which is up to aroun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Söse
Söse is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the river Rhume and long. Geography The Söse rises on the plateau of ''Auf dem Acker'' in the district of Göttingen in the southwestern part of the Harz Mountains in Germany. From there it flows initially westwards; and is then impounded at a pre-dam and then by the Söse Dam between the Osterode village of Riefensbeek and the town of Osterode itself. In Osterode the river bends northwest, only to swing westwards near Badenhausen and then southwards near Eisdorf just a few kilometres west of the Harz. It flows in that direction through Osterode-Dorste before entering the westward-flowing Rhume between the villages of and , both part of the borough of Katlenburg-Lindau in the district of Northeim. Tributaries * Große Söse ''("Great Söse", left headstream)'' * Kleine Söse ''("Little Söse", right headstream)'' * Große Limpig ''(right)'' * Eipenke ''(left)'' * Ospenke ''(left)'' * Lerbach ''(r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lerbach (Söse)
Lerbach is a small river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It flows into the Söse in Osterode am Harz. See also *List of rivers of Lower Saxony All rivers in the German state of Lower Saxony flow directly or indirectly into the North Sea. A–Z A B D E F G H I J K L M N O P * Purrmühlenbach R S T *Tiefenbeek *Trillkebach *Trutenbeek * Twiste U * Uffe *Ulrichswas ... Rivers of Lower Saxony Rivers of Germany {{LowerSaxony-river-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry The Lion
Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180. Henry was one of the most powerful German princes of his time, until the rival Hohenstaufen dynasty succeeded in isolating him and eventually deprived him of his duchies of Bavaria and Saxony during the reign of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and of Frederick's son and successor Henry VI. At the height of his reign, Henry ruled over a vast territory stretching from the coast of the North and Baltic Seas to the Alps, and from Westphalia to Pomerania. Henry achieved this great power in part by his political and military acumen and in part through the legacies of his four grandparents. Family background Born in Ravensburg, in 1129 or 1131, he was the son of Henry the Proud, duke of Bavaria and Saxony, who was the heir of the Billungs, former dukes of Saxony. Henry's mother was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto IV (HRR)
Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218. Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 1196. With Richard's support, he was elected King of Germany by one faction in a disputed election in 1198, sparking German throne dispute, ten years of civil war. The death of his rival, Philip of Swabia, in 1208 left him sole king of Germany. In 1209, Otto Romzug, marched to Italy to be crowned emperor by Pope Innocent III. In 1210, he sought to unite the Kingdom of Sicily with the Empire, breaking with Innocent, who excommunicated him. He allied with England against France and took part in the alliance's Battle of Bouvines, defeat at Bouvines in 1214. He was abandoned by most of his supporters in 1215 and lived the rest of his life in retirement on his estates near Braunschweig, Brunswick. He was the only German king of the House of Welf, W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto I Of Brunswick
Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded from the 7th century ( Odo, son of Uro, courtier of Sigebert III). It was the name of three 10th-century German kings, the first of whom was Otto I the Great, the first Holy Roman Emperor, founder of the Ottonian dynasty. The Gothic form of the prefix was ''auda-'' (as in e.g. '' Audaþius''), the Anglo-Saxon form was ''ead-'' (as in e.g. ''Eadmund''), and the Old Norse form was '' auð-''. The given name Otis arose from an English surname, which was in turn derived from ''Ode'', a variant form of ''Odo, Otto''. Due to Otto von Bismarck, the given name ''Otto'' was strongly associated with the German Empire in the later 19th century. It was comparatively frequently given in the United States (presumably in German American families) during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert I Of Brunswick
Albert the Tall ( lat, Albertus Longus, german: Albrecht der Große; 1236 – 15 August 1279), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1252 and the first ruler of the newly created Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1269 until his death. Life Albert was the oldest surviving son of the first Brunswick duke Otto the Child and his wife, Matilda of Brandenburg. When his father died in 1252, he took over the rule of the duchy; later his younger brother John joined him. Albert's rule was initially troubled by several armed conflicts as the Welf dukes still had to cope with the followers of the extinct Hohenstaufen dynasty within their dominions. In 1260/61 Albert's troops fought against the Danish duke Eric I of Schleswig on behalf of Queen Margaret Sambiria and her minor son King Eric V of Denmark. In 1263 the duke quite luckless interfered in the War of the Thuringian Succession to support the claims raised by his mother-in-law Sophie of Braban ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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