The Ericsburg in the village of the same name in the borough of

Dassel Dassel is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the district Northeim. It is located near the hills of the Solling mountains. Geography The city covers an area of . Buildings and streets make up about 10% of this area while 26% a ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, Germany, is a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

that was built in the 16th century within the

Principality of Calenberg The Principality of Calenberg was a dynastic division of the Welf duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg established in 1432. Calenberg was ruled by the House of Hanover from 1635 onwards; the princes received the ninth electoral dignity of the Holy Roman ...

. It is currently (2007) in a poor state of repair.

Location

The castles was built in a marshy depression. It is of the type known as a

lowland castle The term lowland castle or plains castle (german: Niederungsburg, Flachlandburg, Tieflandburg) describes a type of castle that is situated on a lowland, plain or valley floor, as opposed to one built on higher ground such as a hill spur. The cla ...

Site

Erichsburg

The Erichsburg was formerly guarded by a wide moat and high ramparts. Next to it was a cultivated outwork (''Vorwerk'').

Earlier castle

Its predecessor was

Hunnesrück Castle Hunnesrück Castle (german: Burg Hunnesrück) was a hilltop castle built in the 13th century. Its ruins are located in the Amtsberge hills near Dassel in the district of Northeim in south Lower Saxony in Germany. The castle was constructed in t ...

, which the counts of Dassel had built in the 13th century. In 1521 during the

Hildesheim Diocesan Feud The Hildesheim Diocesan Feud (german: Hildesheimer Stiftsfehde) or Great Diocesan Feud, sometimes referred to as a "chapter feud", was a conflict that broke out in 1519 between the Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim (''Hochstift Hildesheim'') and the ...

it was bombarded with heavy cannon from the heights of Hatop and captured by Eric I together with Henry the Younger of Wolfenbüttel. The destroyed castle lies in the

Amtsberge The Amtsberge are a small ridge of hills, up to ,''Wandern und Freizeit im Naturpark Solling-Vogler'', topographische Karte (1:50.000; 1975), Hrsg.: Niedersächsisches Landesverwaltungsamt – Landesvermessung near Dassel in southern Lowe ...

hills north of Dassel and about 3 km west of the Erichsburg on a steep-sided eminence. Today only the remains of walls and ramparts are left.

History

Duke Eric I of Brunswick-Lüneburg had the Erichsburg built between 1527 and 1530. It was named after his son and heir, born in 1528, later Duke Eric II. It was used by his father, Eric I, for a time as his administrative seat (''Amtssitz''). During the construction, he lived at Hunnesrück Castle about 3 km west of the new castle. Duke Julius of Wolfenbüttel had the castle extended between 1604 and 1612. His

master builder A master builder or master mason is a central figure leading construction projects in pre-modern times (a precursor to the modern architect and engineer). Historically, the term has generally referred to "the head of a construction project in the ...

was Paul Francke. By 1688 buildings from the original construction phase were demolished due to their dilapidated state. The outworks was developed for the economic support of the castle into a small estate settlement, the village of Erichsburg which belongs to Dassel. From 1891 to 1980 the Erichsburg was owned by the Hanoverian State Church and housed a

theological seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

. Renovations have been carried out. The upper part of the

staircase tower A staircase tower or stair tower (german: Treppenturm, also ''Stiegenturm'' or ''Wendelstein'') is a tower-like wing of a building with a circular or polygonal plan that contains a stairwell, usually a helical staircase. History Only a few e ...

(''Treppenturm'') is in a poor condition and numerous repairs are visible. Since 2019, Erichsburg castle has been owned by ADN Investment Group, an investment and development company group based in Germany. File:Erichsburg Turm.jpg, Castle site today with the staircase tower File:Erichsburg Detail.jpg, Detail on the façade File:Erichsburg Schild.jpg, Shield in the village of Erichsburg

External links