Winzenburg is a village and a former municipality in the district of

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 ...

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. Since 1 November 2016, it is part of the municipality Freden. It comprises four smaller communities, including the village of Winzenburg, which dates from the

Middle Ages 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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. Winzenburg is located in the Leinebergland to the north of Bad Gandersheim, between the

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

s of the

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

and the Weserbergland, in

, Germany. The municipality (german:

Gemeinde Gemeinde (; plural: Gemeinden) is a German word translating to "community", "town", "parish", or "municipality". Gemeinde may refer to: * An administrative division encompassing a single village, town, or city: ** Gemeinde (Austria) ** Gemeinde (G ...

) was formed on March 1, 1974 from the four previously independent communities of Winzenburg, Schildhorst, Westerberg and Klump. It is near the small town of Freden.

Constituent villages

Winzenburg

Winzenburg is chiefly known for

Winzenburg castle Winzenburg is a village and a former municipality in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 November 2016, it is part of the municipality Freden. It comprises four smaller communities, including the vil ...

, a

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 now in ruins, which stands on a spur of the

Sackwald The Sackwald is a ridge, up to high, in the Lower Saxon Hills in the district of Hildesheim in the North German state of Lower Saxony. It is named after the village of Sack in the borough of Alfeld, the name meaning "Sack Forest". The Sackwald ...

. In the vicinity, it is also known for its man-made fishing ponds where one can either fish at one of the five ponds or eat fish at one of the ''Fischerhütte'', the small nearby restaurants. Count Herman II of Winzenburg built the castle at

Schöneberg Schöneberg () is a locality of Berlin, Germany. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Together with the former borough of Tempelhof it is now part of the new borough of Tempelh ...

.Friedhelm Biermann
" Die Adelsherrschaften an Ober- und Mittelweser des 13. und 14. Jahrhunderts: im Kräftespiel zwischen einer neu formierten welfischen Hausmacht und expandierenden geistlichen Territorien"
(PDF) Westfälischen Wilhelms - Universität zu Münster (Westfalen). Dissertation (2005). Page 407. Retrieved February 5, 2011.

Westerberg

The hamlet of Westerberg began as a settlement next to a

glassblower Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer''. A '' lampworke ...

founded in 1744. Originally temporary because the property was rented, rather than owned, after the third 8-year extension of the lease, the settlement became permanent. Area

clay pit A clay pit is a quarry or mine for the extraction of clay, which is generally used for manufacturing pottery, bricks or Portland cement. Quarries where clay is mined to make bricks are sometimes called brick pits. A brickyard or brickworks is of ...

s later supported the production of bricks. They are now filled with water and are managed by the Freden sport fishing club."Gemeinde Winzenburg"
Municipality of Freden, official website. Retrieved February 6, 2011

Klump

Klump is below the

Sauberg Sauberg is a mountain of Saxony, southeastern Germany. Mountains of Saxony Mountains of the Ore Mountains {{Saxony-geo-stub ...

and started out as small farms and farmers who rented the land they lived and worked on.

Schildhorst

The village is surrounded by forests, which are favored places to walk in summer and ski in winter. There is a bus connection to the railway station at Freden. The village was of greater significance in the 18th and 19th centuries because of Glasfabrik Schildhorst, the glassblowing factory there, which produced white and other glass. The abundance of water, timber and minerals, natural resources required for the production of glass, made the site particularly suitable. In the 20th century, however, the industry left, and with it, the prosperity of Schildhorst. All that remains is a sawmill, a cheesemaker and a few traces of the glassblower. Today, the population is about 70.

References

External links

1852 map of Schildhorst (photo 450), 1845 document from glass factory (photo 451) and photo of products from glass factory, 1845 (photo 452)
Kreisheimatbund-Hildesheim, official website. Click through to picture numbers, mouse over photo and click on icon for enlarged image. Retrieved February 6, 2011. {{Authority control Hildesheim (district) Former municipalities in Lower Saxony