The Holter Burg is the oldest

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 ...

site in the municipality of

Bissendorf Bissendorf (formerly Bissendorpe) is a municipality in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 9 km southeast of Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in ...

near

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

in the German state of

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 ...

. It is the

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 ...

of a

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 ...

.Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz (publ.): ''Führer zu vor- und frühgeschichtlichen Denkmälern - Das Osnabrücker Land III'', Vol. 44, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz, 1979, pp.122ff It was the third hill castle in

Osnabrück Land Osnabrück Land (german: Osnabrücker Land) is a region in southwest Lower Saxony in Germany, which extends into the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Its centre is the city of Osnabrück. The region is dominated by the Teutoburg Forest and the Ri ...

along with the

Iburg Bad Iburg (; Westphalian: ''Bad Ibig'') is a spa town in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Teutoburg Forest, 16 km south of Osnabrück. Bad Iburg is also the name of a municipality which includes ...

and the Wittekindsburg near Rulle.

History

The Holter Burg was the family seat of the lords of Holte. Their most important representatives were Wigbold of Holte, Archbishop of Cologne and Arch-Chancellor of the Empire, the Essen prince-abbess, Beatrice of Holte, and the bishops of Münster, Burchard of Holte, William I of Holte and Ludolf of Holte. The castle was probably initially destroyed as early as 1147 by the

Bishop of Osnabrück A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, Philip of Katzenelnbogen (1141 to 1173), and the counts of Ravensberg in a feud with the lords of Holte. It may have been destroyed for the last time between 1308 and 1315, although the latest archaeological investigations suggest an earlier date, because a fire layer found in the ground dates the mid-13th century.

Schloss Ledenburg Schloss Ledenburg (Ledenburg manor) is a moated Schloss in Bissendorf-Nemden, Osnabrück district, Lower Saxony, Germany, which probably dates from the 15th century. Originally built with four wings, it was reduced to two wings during restoration ...

in the municipality of Nemden (part of Bissendorf) was built as the "New" Holter Burg.

Description

The Holter Burg was initially built as a

tower castle A tower castle is a small castle that mainly consists of a fortified tower or a tower-like structure that is built on natural ground. It is thus different from the motte-and-bailey castle, which it may resemble, but whose main defensive structure ...

on a plateau with a diameter of around 50 metres located on a rocky

hill spur A spur is a lateral ridge or tongue of land descending from a hill, mountain or main crest of a ridge. It can also be defined as another hill or mountain range which projects in a lateral direction from a main hill or mountain range. Examples of ...

. It was guarded by a section of

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 ...

with a roughly 20-metre-wide and up to 10-metre-deep ditch. A roughly 2-metre-thick

enceinte Enceinte (from Latin incinctus: girdled, surrounded) is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the position. For ...

protected the castle. In the east the height difference between the top of the wall and the bed of the moat was around 16 metres. In the west there was no moat due to the steep hillside. The castle's first building stage, probably around 1100, consisted of the mighty

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and ful ...

and the enceinte. Later, a

castle chapel Castle chapels (german: Burgkapellen) in European architecture are chapels that were built within a castle. They fulfilled the religious requirements of the castle lord and his retinue, while also sometimes serving as a burial site. Because the ...

and ''

palas A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval ''Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson, ...

'' were added. Today only wall remains may be seen along with the plan of a round tower. The deep moats may also be made out. Within the double ditch system, the site has an area of about 5,000 square metres. In 1997 and 2006 there were

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

s and safety measures in order to preserve the castle and make it attractive for visitors. File:Holter_burg_wall_01.jpg, Ditch and bank system File:Holter_burg_ruine_03.jpg, Remains of the

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 ...

and walls File:Holter_burg_ruine_12.jpg, Reconstructed foundations of the chapel and chamber gate File:Holter_burg_ruine_17.jpg, Old wall remains and ditch and bank system

References

Literature

* Bodo Zehm, Jan-Eggerik Delbanco, Andreas Lechtape: ''Holte und die Holter Burg''. Große Kunstführer / Schlösser und Burgen Band 266. Verlag Schnell und Steiner, Regensburg, 2011, * Hans-Günter Peters: ''Archäologische Denkmäler und Funde im Landkreis Osnabrück'', Verlag August Lax, Hildesheim, 1973 * Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz (publ.): ''Führer zu vor- und frühgeschichtlichen Denkmälern - Das Osnabrücker Land III'', Vol. 44, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz, 1979, * Edgar F. Warnecke: ''Das große Buch der Burgen und Schlösser im Land von Hase und Ems.'' 2. erw. Auflage, Verlag Wenner, Osnabruck, 1985, * Wolfgang Schlüter: ''Burgen und Befestigungen.'' Schriften zur Archäologie des Osnabrücker Landes, Vol. II. Bramsche, 2000, * Ernst Andreas Friedrich: ''Die Ruine der Burg Holte'', pp. 105–107, in: ''Wenn Steine reden könnten'', Band III, Landbuch-Verlag, Hanover, 1995, {{ISBN, 3-7842-0515-1. *Wolfgang Schlüter: ''Die Burg Holte in Holte-Sünsbeck, Gemeinde Bissendorf, Ldkr. Osnabrück'' In: Mamoun Fansa, Frank Both, Henning Haßmann (eds.): ''Archäologie, Land, Niedersachsen. 400.000 Jahre Geschichte.'' Landesmuseum für Natur und Mensch, Oldenburg, 2004. Pages 574–577. * Jan-Eggerik Delbanco: ''Erwacht aus dem Dornröschenschlaf'' in: ''Archäologie in Niedersachsen'', pp. 71–75, 2013 * Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (publ.): ''Archäologie und Forstwirtschaft im Einklang. Denkmalschutz und Präsentation von Burgen in Waldgebieten.''
online
pdf)

External links

Photographs of the archaeological excavation of Holter Burg in 2006

Artist's impression
by Wolfgang Braun
Description
at Archäologie Osnabrück Castles in Lower Saxony Buildings and structures in Osnabrück (district)