Scharzfels Castle (german: Burgruine Scharzfels) is the medieval ruin of a fortification located east of the village of
Scharzfeld
Scharzfeld is a village in the borough of Herzberg am Harz in the district of Göttingen in South Lower Saxony, Germany.
Scharzfeld lies at a height of about 220 m above sea level and has 1,765 inhabitants (as at 1 October 2006).
The ...
in the borough of
Herzberg am Harz in central
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 ...
. It lies in a wood on a ridge about 150 m above the
Oder valley. For centuries after its construction in the 10th or 11th century it remained an impregnable fortress. The
inner ward
The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer w ...
is built on a
dolomite Dolomite may refer to:
*Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral
*Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock
*Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community
*Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
rock outcrop about 20 m high. The castle was first captured after a siege in 1761 during the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...
and then blown up.
Construction
Of the fortifications of the former
outer ward
An outer bailey or outer ward is the defended outer enclosure of a castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It protects the inner bailey and usually contains those ancillary buil ...
nothing visible remains apart from a well house. The lower or outer ward is now a flat terraced area with a tourist restaurant. From the outer ward a stairway, built in the 19th century, leads to the
upper ward
The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer w ...
on the 20-metre-high dolomite rock. The rock has an area of about 20 metres × 60 metres. This
eyrie-like position with its vertical rock faces made the castle impregnable. The stone castle buildings were built on top of the rock or in gaps. According to contemporary accounts, there was at least a ''
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 ...
'' and a
tower
A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.
Towers are specifi ...
. Of the buildings and the
defensive wall only preserved fragments remain that have now been restored. In contrast, the tunnels and rooms hewn out of the rock still exist, including the 15-metre-long corridor that runs from the castle entranceway.
Several hundred metres away from the castle ruins is the rock known as the ''Frauenstein'', which was once an observation tower and an
outwork.
File:Scharzfels Eingang.jpg, Castle entrance at the top of the stairway at a height of around 20 metres
File:Karl F. Wunder PC 0001B Gruß aus dem Harz. Ruine Scharzfels. Schloßhof. Ansichtsseite.jpg, Ca. 1900: Around the castle gate; postcard by Karl Friedrich Wunder
Karl Friedrich Wunder (1849 in Hanover - 1924 id.) was a German photographer, publisher of photo books and postcards.
Career
Wunder wurde 1849 – das genaue Datum ist unbekannt – geboren und erlernte das Fotografieren bei seinem Vater Fri ...
File:Karl F. Wunder PC 0003 Gruß von der Ruine Scharzfels i. H.jpg, Postcard with views of the castle ruins
History
Emergence in the Middle Ages
The castle of Scharzfels was probably built in the 10th or 11th century and belonged in its early days to the
Magdeburg archdiocese. It only became of historical significance through Emperor
Lothair of Süpplingenburg who acquired it in 1131 and turned it into an imperial fort (''reichsfeste''). This purchase is witnessed by the same document in which the castle is mentioned in writing for the first time, as ''Castrum quoddam Scartuelt''.
From that time the castle was home to several lines of counts, including the counts of Scharzfeld who were named after the castle. After they had become extinct, the castle went in 1300 as a fief of the
Principality of Grubenhagen into the possession of the counts of
Hohnstein
Hohnstein () is a town located in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district of Saxony, Germany. As of 2020, its population numbered a total of 3,262.
Geography
It is situated in Saxon Switzerland, 12 km east of Pirna, and 28 km so ...
. After the extinction of the Harz-based line of the House of Hohnstein in 1593, the feudal castle and house returned to the House of Grubenhagen. In 1596
Duke Henry Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel inherited the fortress. Later it passed into the possession of the Hanover line of the
House of Welf.
Fortress and gaol
![Scharzfeld Merian](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Scharzfeld_Merian.png)
In 1627 the castle was expanded, occupied by a garrison and heavily fortified. In the centuries after the construction of the castle no enemy power was able to capture it, despite conflicts such as the
Peasants' War and the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
. In the 17th century Scharzfels became a
state gaol. From 1695 Eleonore
of the Knesebeck (born 1655) resided here, who came from a prestigious ancient Lüneburg family, albeit of the lesser nobility. She became the
maid to Princess
Sophia of Ahlden after Sophia's marriage in 1682. Between the vulnerable sixteen-year-old, Sophie Dorothea, who had married into the House Hanover, and Eleanor a friendly relationship developed, a sort of mother-daughter relationship, and she was a confidante in the extra-marital love affair of her mistress with the reckless
Count of Königsmarck, serving as a letter bearer. The family of Eleanor of the Knesebeck tried again and again to initiate a legal process and sought in vain for a bail of 100,000
talers. The prisoner remained incarcerated in a tiny room, only being allowed to see an old nurse once a day. Her family eventually bribed the roofer, Veit Rentsch. As a result, Eleanor was freed in 1697 with outside help in a daring rescue action, being lowered about 20 metres down from the high castle rock, her body being tied to the body of her rescuer, who abseiled with her. Previously, he had made an opening in the roof of the room where the prisoner was held and hauled her out with a rope. Below, her brother waited with a handful of mounted men and carried them to safety. She traveled to Vienna, where she managed secure an imperial letter of protection and drove to Brunswick. In 1717 she died in a village near this city. From the family of her former mistress, she received 2,000 talers in support.
Capture
![Scharzfels Ausblick](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Scharzfels_Ausblick.jpg)
In 1761, during the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...
, a body of French troops, numbering some 6,000 men, appeared in front of Scharzfels Castle. They succeeded in forcing the surrender of the castle which had been defended by 40 gunners, 100 infantry from the Harz and 250 invalids from
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
. When the defenders refused to give up voluntarily, the French attacked the castle with an assault and bombardment, but met with no success. As the result of a tip-off about a hidden path to the ''Liethberg'' a hill in the vicinity, the French were able to destroy the outwork at Frauenstein by shelling and then bombard the castle. After a ten-day siege, the garrison surrendered the castle on 25 September 1761. The capture of this hitherto impregnable fortress caused great jubilation in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. Their joy was dampened somewhat when it became known that the defenders were largely invalids. After only four days' occupation the French blew up the castle and withdrew when it became known that Prince
Ferdinand of Brunswick
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
was advancing on Scharzfels. Since that time, the castle site has lain in ruins.
Walking and climbing
Scharzfels Castle is no. 151 in the system of checkpoints in the
Harzer Wandernadel
The Harzer Wandernadel is a system of hiking awards in the Harz mountains in central Germany. The hiker (or mountain biker) can earn awards at different levels of challenge by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and stamping his or ...
hiking network; it lies on the
Karst Trail
The Karst Trail (german: Karstwanderweg) is a marked and signed footpath that runs for over 250 kilometres between Förste in Lower Saxony and Pölsfeld in Saxony-Anhalt through the karst landscape of the Harz, South Harz in Germany.
The path ru ...
and ''Harzer Baudensteig'' trail. The north face of the dolomite rock is used for
climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done ...
.
References
Sources
*Friedrich, Ernst Andreas (1992). ''Wenn Steine reden könnten.'' Band II, Landbuch-Verlag, Hanover,
*Nück, Wolfgang-Dietrich (2008). ''Graf Sigebodo II. von Scharzfeld/Lauterberg'', Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, Bielefeld,
*Vladi, Firouz (1990). ''Die Burg Scharzfels'', Verlag Jungfer, Herzberg, no ISBN
External links
Description at Burgenwelt.de
Reconstruction as it was in the Middle Ages
{{Authority control
Castles in Lower Saxony
Castles in the Harz
Herzberg am Harz
Ruined castles in Germany
Rock castles