The Harliburg (also ''Harlyburg'' or ''Herlingsberg'') is a former

imperial castle An imperial castle or ''Reichsburg'' was a castle built by order of the Holy Roman Emperor, whose management was entrusted to '' Reichsministeriales'' or ''Burgmannen''. It is not possible to identify a clear distinction between imperial castles an ...

(''Reichsburg'') in the

Harly Forest The Harly Forest (german: Harly-Wald, also ''Harlywald'' or just ''Harly'') is a hill range up to above NN in the district of Goslar in southeastern Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography The low ridge is situated in the northern foothills of the H ...

, in southeast

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 Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Location

The location of the former

hillside castle A hillside castle is a castle built on the side of a hill above much of the surrounding terrain but below the summit itself. It is thus a type of hill castle and emerged in Europe in the second half of the 11th century. As a result of the particul ...

() is about 1 km (

as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel '' Oliv ...

) north-northeast of the town of

Vienenburg Vienenburg is a borough of Goslar, capital of the Goslar (district), Goslar district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The former independent municipality was incorporated in Goslar on 1 January 2014. Geography It is situated in the north of the Harz mou ...

(141 m above NN), in the county of Goslar and around 10 km (as the crow flies) northeast of the town of

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines ...

. The

River Oker The Oker is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, that has historically formed an important political boundary. It is a left tributary of the River Aller, in length and runs in a generally northerly direction. Origin and meaning of the name The r ...

flows below the castle site to the south and east, around the southeastern end of the Harly Forest. A few hundred metres southwest of the Harliburg, in the Oker valley, lies Lake Vienenburg (''Vienenburger See''). Almost exactly 2 km west-northwest is the hill of

Harlyberg The Harlyberg, at {{Höhe, 255.9, DE-NN, link=true, is the highest hill of the Harly Forest, and rises in the district of Goslar in southeastern Lower Saxony, central Germany. Sometimes the term Harlyberg is used as a synonym for the entire Harl ...

(255.9 m above NN), the highest point of the Harly Forest. A section of the A 395 motorway runs past the Harly Forest, a few hundred metres east of the old Harliburg, where it is crossed by the B 241 federal road.

History

The Harliburg was built in 1203 by King Otto IV as an imperial stronghold. Like the

Liebenburg Liebenburg is a municipality in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography The municipal area is situated north of the Harz mountain range, within the eastern Salzgitter Hills of the Innerste Uplands. It borders on the distri ...

, that stood around 10 km to the northwest, it was intended to threaten the access roads to Goslar, which were held by the Hohenstaufen lord,

Philip of Swabia Philip of Swabia (February/March 1177 – 21 June 1208) was a member of the House of Hohenstaufen and King of Germany from 1198 until his assassination. The death of his older brother Emperor Henry VI in 1197 meant that the Hohenstaufen rule (whi ...

. In 1218, Otto himself stayed at the castle shortly before his death. In the late 13th century, the castle was transferred to the

House of Welf The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconia, Franconian family from ...

. At the Diet of Erfurt in 1290, the

Bishop of Hildesheim This list records the incumbents of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim (german: link=no, Bistum Hildesheim). Between 1235 and 1803 the bishops simultaneously officiating as rulers of princely rank (prince-bishop) in the Prince-Bishopric of ...

accused Henry the Admirable of Brunswick-Grubenhagen of breaking the ''

Landfriede Under the law of the Holy Roman Empire, a ''Landfrieden'' or ''Landfriede'' (Latin: ''constitutio pacis'', ''pax instituta'' or ''pax jurata'', variously translated as "land peace", or "public peace") was a contractual waiver of the use of legiti ...

'' or "imperial peace" that had been in force since 12834, by tolerating

highway robbery A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to footp ...

by the soldiers garrisoning the castle. As a result, the Herlingsberg War was precipitated, during which, in 1291, the Bishop of Hildesheim captured the Harliburg after a four-month siege, and had it

slighted Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative or social structures. This destruction of property sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It is ...

. Its stone was used ''inter alia'' to build the

water castle A water castle is a castle whose site is largely defended by water. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbodies such as island castles in a river or offshore. The term comes from European castle st ...

of Wiedelah between 1292 and 1297, some 2 km southeast. The stone was also used in the construction of the nearby castle of

in the town of the same name in 1300. Today the site of the former Harliburg is covered by dense forest, only the circular ramparts and

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

s remaining.

In literature

The contemporary poet, Heinrich Rosla, from Nienburg published the Latin epic poem, ''Herlingsberga'' about the Harliburg.

References

Bibliography

* Ernst Andreas Friedrich: ''Die Wälle der Harliburg'', pp. 137-139, in: ''Wenn Steine reden könnten''. Vol. IV, Landbuch-Verlag, Hanover, 1998, {{ISBN, 3-7842-0558-5

External links

Information on the Harliburg with site plan

Artist's impression of the castle in the Middle Ages
Buildings and structures completed in 1203 Castles in Lower Saxony Vienenburg Imperial castles