The Sababurg, first called the Zappenburg, then Zapfenburg and today, after the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

fairy tale

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

Castle (german: Dornröschenschloss), 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 ...

in the legendary

Reinhardswald The Reinhardswald () is a range of hills up to and covering an area of over 200 km²
in the

, a forested upland that runs through the

North Hessian North Hesse (german: Nordhessen) describes the northern part and historical heart of the Germany, German States of Germany, federated state of Hesse. The region is – unlike the name Lower Hesse – not a historical territory and also has no est ...

county of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

. Sababurg is also the name of a district of the town of

Hofgeismar Hofgeismar () is a town in the Kassel (district), district of Kassel, in northern Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km north of Kassel on the German Timber-Frame Road. In 1978 and in 2015, the town hosted the 18th ''Hessentag'' state festival. ...

in which the castle is found. The

appears in 1334 as the ''Zappenburg'' to protect

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on Pilgrimage, a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the a ...

s to the nearby pilgrimage site of Gottsbüren. In 1490, the hunting lodge of ''Zapfenburg'' grew out of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

castle site. After 1957 the site was restored and since 1959 it has housed an hotel. Together with the

Trendelburg Trendelburg () is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany with a population of 5,282 on 30 September 2009. It is situated on the river Diemel, north of Kassel. The town is twinned with Pocklington, England. Trendelburg is located o ...

and Krukenburg the present ruins belong to the three best known castles in the Reinhardswald region, although the latter is just outside this forest. In the surrounding area is the

Sababurg Wildlife Park The Sababurg, first called the Zappenburg, then Zapfenburg and today, after the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Sleeping Beauty Castle (german: Dornröschenschloss), is the ruin of a hill castle in the legendary Reinhardswald, a forested upland th ...

and the virgin forest of Urwald Sababurg. The concept for the board game,

Enchanted Forest In folklore and fantasy, an enchanted forest is a forest under, or containing, enchantments. Such forests are described in the oldest folklore from regions where forests are common, and occur throughout the centuries to modern works of fantasy. ...

, was developed from the castle.

Location

The ''Sababurg'' stands in the heart of the Reinhardswald in the village of Sababurg in the east-northeast of the

borough of Beberbeck (an estate settlement with a castle). It is located between Beberbeck, about 4.5 km west-southwest of the ruins, and Gottsbüren (village east of

), around 4.5 km north-northwest (each

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 ...

). The ruins stand on a relatively open

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

kuppe A ''Kuppe'' is the term used in German-speaking central Europe for a mountain or hill with a rounded summit that has no rock formation, such as a tor, on it. A range of such hills is called a ''Kuppengebirge''. In geology the term also refers to ...

'' at an elevation of about . Southwest and below the castle is the

, through which the little stream of Donnebach, an eastern and right-hand tributary of the

Holzape Holzape is a river of Hesse, Germany. It flows into the Diemel in Trendelburg-Wülmersen. See also *List of rivers of Hesse A list of rivers of Hesse, Germany: A * Aar, tributary of the Dill * Aar, tributary of the Lahn * Aar, tributary of t ...

, runs in a northwesterly direction. The ruins, village and wildlife park are an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of Hofgeismar, surrounded by the

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparish ...

of ''

Gutsbezirk Reinhardswald The Gutsbezirk Reinhardswald is an unincorporated area in the Kassel district in the state of Hesse in Germany. It encompasses an area of and is thus the second largest village in Hesse by area after the city of Frankfurt. The Gutsbezirk Reinhards ...

'', in which the Urwald Sababurg lies on the other side of the park.

History

Zappenburg

Construction on the ''Zappenburg'' (formerly: ''Zappaborgck'' and ''Zappenborgck'') began on 19 April 1334 to protect and guard pilgrims to the nearby pilgrimage site of Gottsbüren, ''"where in 1330 the uncorrupted body of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

is supposed to have been found"''. It was founded by the

Bishopric of Mainz The Diocese of Mainz, historically known in English as ''Mentz'' as well as by its French name ''Mayence'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It was founded in 304, promoted in 780 to Metrop ...

, which was in constant competition with the

Landgraviate of Hesse The Landgraviate of Hesse (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen) was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. History In the early Mid ...

, the

Bishopric of Paderborn The Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn (german: Fürstbistum Paderborn; Hochstift Paderborn) was an ecclesiastical principality (Hochstift) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1281 to 1802. History The Diocese of Paderborn was founded in 799 by Pope ...

and the

Duchy of Brunswick The Duchy of Brunswick (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig) was a historical German state. Its capital city, capital was the city of Braunschweig, Brunswick (). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ...

, whose territories virtually bordered on one another here. The construction was probably funded by income from the pilgrimages. With the completion of the work in 1336 Arnold of Portenhagen became the first castellan or ''

Burgmann From the 12th century in central Europe, a ''Burgmann'' (plural: ''Burgmannen'' or modern term ''Burgmänner'', Latin: ''oppidanus'', ''castrensus'') was a knight ministeriales or member of the nobility who was obliged to guard and defend castles. ...

''. In 1346 there was a conflict in which Mainz was defeated. The castle was divided between the Landgraviate of Hesse and the Bishopric of Paderborn and, in 1455, described as "abandoned". The castle went entirely into the possession of Hesse in 1462 after the end of the

Mainz Diocesan Feud The Mainz Diocesan Feud (german: Mainzer Erzstiftsfehde), also known as the Baden-Palatine War (''Badisch-Pfälzischer Krieg''), took place in 1461/1462 and was a warlike conflict for the throne of the Electorate of Mainz. Background In 1459 th ...

Zapfenburg and Sababurg

In 1490 Landgrave William I (1466–1515) ''"built a fine hunting lodge on the foundation walls of the original site, which was to be a venue for innumerable prestigious festivals and gatherings for 300 years"''. After this rebuilding or remodelling there was a significant requirement for drinking water for people and animals. This was the catalyst for the construction of a water pipe. In 1508 construction began on the ''

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, ...

'', which was finished under his nephew Philip I (1504–1567) in 1519. A

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation o ...

was also laid out.

Today

The site of the ''Sababurg'' has been gradually restored by the state of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

since 1957 and opened to the public. From 1959 the ruins were converted into a high-class hotel with restaurant and café that was opened in 1960. In addition it houses a theatre, the ''SabaBurgTheater''. In 1987 the first municipal wedding venue in Germany located outside of a town hall was established at the Sababurg. In 2002 a second, larger wedding room was opened. Of the original defences of the Sababurg, restoration work has uncovered parts of the

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 ...

with its flanking gate and ditche and bank works. Only the outer walls of the ''palas'' have survived. In addition to the two mighty corner towers with their '' welschen Hauben'', which are used by the hotel, a small

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 ...

has also survived. The chancellery building was expanded in 1976 by a modern extension.

References

''Dornröschenschloss Sababurg''
at sababurg.de
auf nordhessen-erleben.de Karl Wilhelm Justi, Johann Melchior Hartmann
''Hessische Denkwürdigkeiten''
Bd. 4, Ausg. 1, Marburg 1805, S. 395–410
auf burgen-und-schloesser.net ''Heiraten auf dem Dornröschenschloss Sababurg''
, retrieved 4 March 2015, auf hofgeismar.de

Literature

* Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen (publ.): ''Denkmaltopographie Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Baudenkmale in Hessen – Kreis Kassel, Teil I.'' Brunswick, 1988, * Eduard Brauns, ''The Sababurg and der Reinhardswald'' Geschichte and Gegenwart, 4th edition, 1991 * Rudolf Knappe: ''Mittelalterliche Burgen in Hessen: 800 Burgen, Burgruinen and Burgstätten.'' 3rd edition, Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen, 2000. , pp. 18f. * Hermann-Josef Rapp (ed.): ''Reinhardswald. Eine Kulturgeschichte''. Euregio, Kassel, 2002, * ''Schlösser, Burgen, alte Mauern.'' Herausgegeben vom Hessendienst der Staatskanzlei, Wiesbaden, 1990, pp. 185f.,

External links

Webseite des Hotels Sababurg

''Vom Burggarten zum Burggärtner'' − website of the castle gardeners of the Sababurg

Artist's impression of the Sababurg by Wolfgang Braun
{{Authority control 1959 establishments in West Germany Hill castles Renaissance architecture in Germany Hotels in Germany Castles in Hesse Reinhardswald Buildings and structures in Kassel (district)