Dankwarderode Castle () on the ''Burgplatz'' ("castle square") in

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

(Brunswick) is a

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

lowland castle. It was the residence of the Brunswick dukes for centuries and, today, is part of the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum.

Construction and history of use

Dankwarderode Castle was built between c. 1160 and 1175 as the ''

Pfalz Pfalz, Pfälzer, or Pfälzisch are German words referring to Palatinate (disambiguation), Palatinate. They may refer to: Places *Pfalz, the Palatinate (region) of Germany **Nordpfalz, the North Palatinate **Vorderpfalz, the Anterior Palatinat ...

'' of Duke Henry the Lion on an island in the river Oker. Next to the castle, the construction of Brunswick Cathedral began in 1173. The castle lost its military significance as a defensive structure early when it became surrounded completely by the growing city. During the 15th century, the dukes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel moved their '' Residenz'' out of the city and to the nearby town of

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...

. In 1616 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 ...

'' was remodelled in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style, while the rest of the castle was demolished or left to decay. During the 19th century, the castle keep served as a barrack, plans to demolish it were stopped by public protests in 1873. The present structure was rebuilt in 1887 by Ludwig Winter, based on archaeological investigations. Today the ground floor of Dankwarderode Castle houses the permanent collection of medieval objects from the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum. Duke Anton Ulrich Museum
Retrieved on 8 May 2013.

Gallery

Image:Braunschweig Burgplatz.JPG, Castle courtyard Image:Burg Dankwarderode (Ludwig Winter).jpg, Dankwarderode Castle c. 1200, artist's impression by Ludwig Winter (1884) Image:Dankwarderode J. G. Beck.jpg, Dankwarderode in the 18th century Image:Burg Dankwarderode (1720).jpg, Dankwarderode c. 1720 Image:Burg Dankwarderode 1865.jpg, Dankwarderode c. 1865 Image:BurgDankwarderodeRittersaal.jpg, Great Hall File:Braunschweiger Löwe, original in the Dankwarderode Castle - Braunschweig, Germany - DSC04562.JPG,

Brunswick Lion The ''Brunswick Lion'' () is a Middle Ages, medieval sculpture, created in bronze between 1164 and 1176, and the best-known landmark in the Germany, German city of Braunschweig, Brunswick. The ''Brunswick Lion'' was originally located on the Bur ...

, original on display in the museum. Image:Braunschweig Brunswick Armreliquiar St. Blasius Vorderseite.jpg, Arm reliquary of

Saint Blaise Blaise of Sebaste (, ''Hágios Blásios''; martyred 316 AD) was a physician and bishop of Sivas, Sebastea in historical Lesser Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey) who is venerated as a Christian saint and martyr. He is counted as one of the Fourteen ...

on display in the museum. Image:20180102_Braunschweig_Burgplatz_Panorama_DSC07785_mid_equiRect_PtrQs.jpg, Dankwarderode Castle on the Burgplatz by night.

References

Sources

* Reinhold Wex: ''Burg Dankwarderode'', in: Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon, herausgegeben im Auftrag der Stadt Braunschweig von Luitgard Camerer, Manfred R. W. Garzmann und Wolf-Dieter Schuegraf unter besonderer Mitarbeit von Norman-Mathias Pingel, Brunswick, 1992, page 52, . * Georg Dehio: ''Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Bremen/Niedersachsen'',

Deutscher Kunstverlag The Deutscher Kunstverlag (DKV) is an educational publishing house with offices in Berlin and Munich. The publisher specializes in books about art, cultural history, architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and bu ...

, 1977. * Richard Moderhack: ''Braunschweiger Stadtgeschichte'', Brunswick, 1997.

External links

Medieval Division of the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dankwarderode, Burg Museums in Braunschweig Brunswick, Dankwarderode Castles in Lower Saxony History of Brunswick Rebuilt buildings and structures in Germany Lowland castles