Stargard Castle is the northernmost extant

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 a ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The 13th century castle,Alljährliches Mittelalterfest auf der Burg
/ref> standing on a 90 m hill, and the eponymous small town in the valley below lie several kilometers southeast of

Neubrandenburg Neubrandenburg (, Low German ''Niegenbramborg'', both lit. ''New Brandenburg an der Havel, Brandenburg'') is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban c ...

, in the northeastern German state of

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...

. The complex consists of an outer and an inner bailey with eleven buildings preserved. The imposing castle keep serves as the city's landmark.

History

The castle hill was settled already before 3000 BC. When

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

tribes advanced into the area during the

Migration Period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

, they encountered remnants of an ancient fortification or settlement and thus called the place ''Stari Gard'' ( Pomeranian: ''old castle''). Since the 12th century, the area was conquered and colonized by

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

princes. In 1237, Duke

Wartislaw III Wartislaw III (Polish: Warcisław III) (c. 1210 – 17 May 1264) was a Griffin duke of Pomerania-Demmin. Son of Casimir II of Pomerania-Demmin and Ingardis of Denmark, he was married to a Sophia of an unknown house. As he did not have any children ...

of Pomerania, ceded the so-called "country of Stargard" (

: ''Stargarder Land'',

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''terra stargardiensis'') to the

Ascanian The House of Ascania () was a dynasty of German rulers. It is also known as the House of Anhalt, which refers to its longest-held possession, Anhalt. The Ascanians are named after Ascania (or Ascaria) Castle, known as ''Schloss Askanien'' in ...

Margraves of Brandenburg,

John I John I may refer to: People Religious figures * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John I of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope from 496 to 505 * Pope John I, P ...

and

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was c ...

, by the

treaty of Kremmen The Treaty of Kremmen was signed on 20 June 1236 by Duke Wartislaw III of Pomerania, recognizing the seigniory of the Brandenburg margraves over his Duchy of Pomerania-Demmin, and ceding the terrae Stargard, Wustrow and Beseritz to Brandenburg. ...

. Under their orders, most of the present castle was being built between 1240 and 1270, to protect their northernmost territories. The hamlet of Stargard received its

town privileges 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 traditio ...

from Margrave Otto III in 1259. In 1292, by marriage of Margrave

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...

's daughter

Beatrix Beatrix is a Latin feminine given name, most likely derived from ''Viatrix'', a feminine form of the Late Latin name ''Viator'' which meant "voyager, traveller" and later influenced in spelling by association with the Latin word ''beatus'' or "ble ...

with Prince

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

of Mecklenburg, the

Lordship of Stargard The Lordship of Stargard (German: ''Herrschaft Stargard'', ''Stargarder Land'' or ''Land Stargard'') was a county first set up in the 13th century as the ''terra Stargardiensis'' and first documented in the area of the border between Brandenburg, ...

was ceded to

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

as a dower and has remained part of that region ever since. After one of the many partitions of Mecklenburg, Stargard Castle became the residence of Duke

Mecklenburg-Stargard The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Stargard, also simply known as Mecklenburg-Stargard, and also as the Duchy of Stargard was a feudal district duchy in Mecklenburg within the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Burg Stargard. It was ruled by the House of M ...

in 1352. After the Stargard line became extinct in 1471, their duchy was reunited with the rest of country again. The reign of Albert VII saw the significant modification and expansion of the castle in 1520, e.g. the gatehouse was remodeled into a chapel. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, Stargard served as headquarters of

General Tilly Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly (; ; ; February 1559 – 30 April 1632) was a field marshal who commanded the Catholic League's forces in the Thirty Years' War. From 1620 to 1631, he won an unmatched and demoralizing string of important victo ...

during the siege and capture of the nearby city of

, but was heavily damaged itself during this time. In 1646, the keep was struck by lightning and burnt out. Even after becoming part of the newly created

duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a duchy in Northern Germany consisting of the eastern fifth of the historic Mecklenburg region, roughly corresponding with the present-day Mecklenburg-Strelitz district (the former Lordship of Stargard) ...

in 1701, the castle remained the seat of the local magistrate, as it had been for centuries. The last witch-hunt in Mecklenburg, if not the last in Northern Germany, took place here in 1726. A significant part of the complex, the ''Crooked House'', which housed the magistrate's offices, burnt down in 1919. After surviving

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

without destruction, the castle's premises were used for educational purposes until 1963, then as a youth hostel till 1990. After the

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller politics or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal govern ...

, the whole complex was thoroughly restored. A museum was established, maintained by a Christian welfare work organisation. Today, it is also used for cultural events and for weddings in the restored castle chapel.

Premises

Stargard Castle consists of an

outer {{Short pages monitor