Marienburg Castle (''Burg Marienburg'') is a well-preserved Romanesque castle in

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...

, a city in

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 ...

History

Hildesheim was founded as the seat of the

Bishopric of Hildesheim The Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim (german: Hochstift Hildesheim, Fürstbistum Hildesheim, Bistum Hildesheim) was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the Middle Ages until its dissolution in 1803. The Prince-Bis ...

in 815. The settlement around the cathedral of Hildesheim was ruled by the clergy for four centuries and it quickly developed into a town which was awarded

market rights A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

by King Otto III in 983. The town grew further and obtained

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1249, developing into a very wealthy merchant city. At the end of the 13th century, Hildesheim had about 5,000 inhabitants and was one of the biggest and richest cities in the North of Germany. The citizens gained more and more self-confidence and did not want to be governed by the bishop any longer. As the bishop did not want to reside in the rebellious and dangerous city any longer, he ordered Steuerwald Castle in the North of the city to be built as a new residence. When the castle was completed in 1313, he left Hildesheim. But just one castle proved insufficient to intimidate and to control the citizens. Bishop Henry III, his successor (1331–1363) who also resided in Steuerwald Castle, ordered another castle to be built in the South of Hildesheim, hoping to increase his power by controlling the city from two directions. According to the orders given by Henry III, Marienburg Castle was built in 1346–1349 on the river Innerste in the South of Hildesheim, about 6 kilometres from the city The castle was built with three aisles, a high

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 very thick walls (2 metres) in a strategically advantageous location on the trade route linking Hildesheim to

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 ...

, another important merchant city. Marienburg Castle was surrounded by two moats. In addition, a part of the castle was protected by the river. In the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

, Marienburg Castle was conquered in 1623, but only the upper floors of the Southern and Eastern aisles suffered some damage. They were rebuilt in half-timbered style in 1663. After the Thirty Years' War, Marienburg Castle was only used for residential purposes and lost its strategic importance. The castle was remodelled several times. During the

secularization In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

, the Catholic Church lost the castle which was transformed into a government-owned domain. The small village of ''Marienburg'' developed around the castle on the river Innerste. At the beginning of the 20th century it had 195 inhabitants, most of whom were working in the domain. In 1974, the village of ''Marienburg'' became a part of the city of Hildesheim. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Marienburg Castle remained undamaged. From 1945 to 1981, some of the buildings served as a canning factory. Vegetables were grown on the fields surrounding the castle, and the two medieval moats were levelled as the space was needed for the cultivation. From 1949 to 1991, the deep vaulted cellar of the castle was used as an ice-cream factory. Since 1993, the castle has been used by the University of Hildesheim. In 2005, the City of Hildesheim bought Marienburg Castle for €12.1 million.

Architecture

Over the centuries, Marienburg Castle has been remodelled and enlarged several times, but the oldest parts dating from the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...

are well-preserved. Some buildings were added in the 15th, 17th and 18th century. One of the barns was transformed into a lecture hall. The castle keep, reaching a height of 31 metres, has an almost quadrate basis measuring 8.55 x 8.75 metres, firing slits and a tent roof. The Romanesque ''

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, ...

'' is comparatively large, reaching a height of 29.5 metres. Its basis measures 21.06 x 12.65 metres and the walls are extraordinarily thick, reaching a thickness of up to 2.35 metres. Inside the building, which has four floors, there is a great hall on the third floor reaching a height of 5 metres. On the fourth floor, there is a bay window with a medieval toilet (sic).Segers-Glocke, Gabriele: ''Baudenkmale in Niedersachsen, Band 14.1 – Hildesheim'', p. 258. Hameln 2007. The palace has small romanesque windows and

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

lancet windows as well. As the building was used as a grain store for several centuries, it has hardly been remodelled. The representative Tenant's House was built in the 18th century in

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style.

Marienburg Castle today

As Marienburg Castle is used by the University of Hildesheim, only a part of the castle is open to the public. Some buildings are just being renovated. There is a footpath around the castle with a scenic view giving a good impression of the whole complex. Sometimes special exhibitions are held in the castle.

References

{{Coord, 52, 6, 52, N, 9, 58, 56, E, type:landmark_dim:600_region:DE-NI, display=title Castles in Lower Saxony Buildings and structures in Hildesheim Museums in Lower Saxony Historic house museums in Germany Water castles in Germany Tourist attractions in Hildesheim