Hessen, also Hessen am Fallstein, is a village in 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 ...

district of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it th ...

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 ...

. Formerly part of the Aue-Fallstein municipal association, it was merged into the

Osterwieck Osterwieck () is a historic town in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Geography The municipal area stretches along the river Ilse, north of Wernigerode and the Harz mountain range. The town Osterwieck consists of the foll ...

municipality on 1 January 2010.

Geography

The settlement is situated in the northern

foothills, south of the

Großes Bruch The Großes Bruch ("Great Marsh") is a long wetland strip in Germany, stretching from Oschersleben in Saxony-Anhalt in the east to Hornburg, Lower Saxony in the west. The depression formed from a glacial valley. The lowland meadow landscape w ...

lowland, at the northeastern rim of the Großer Fallstein heights. Located about northwest of

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bomb ...

, about half-way on the road to

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest ...

, it borders on Winnigstedt-Mattierzoll,

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 ...

in the north.

History

Possibly named after a local chieftain during the Saxon Wars of Charlemagne, a water manor house at the site was first mentioned in an 1129 deed. Temporarily held by the comital

House of Regenstein Regenstein, also ''Reinstein'', was a Lower Saxon noble family, which was named after the eponymous Regenstein Castle near Blankenburg on the edge of the Harz Mountains of central Germany. History In 1162 ''Cunradus Comes de Regenstein'' (Conr ...

from 1330 onwards, it was rebuilt as a castle named ''Schloss Hessen'' ( de), while the surrounding village arose in the 14th century. The estates were acquired by the

Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to: *Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious *Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau *Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...

dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1343, then an exclave within the territory of the Prince-Bishops of Halberstadt on the trade route to

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. Hessen became the residence of the

crown prince

Julius The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the ...

in 1560; his son Henry Julius was born here in 1564. Large parts of the castle were rebuilt in a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

style with extended parks and gardens. Julius' widow,

Hedwig of Brandenburg Hedwig of Brandenburg, also called Hedwig of Ballenstedt ( – end of March 1203), a member of the House of Ascania, was Margravine of Meissen from 1156 until 1190 by her marriage with Margrave Otto II. Life Hedwig was born about 1140 as a ...

resided here until her death in 1602. Duke Henry Julius had an organ built for the Hessen castle chapel, finished in 1610, which his widow Elizabeth of Denmark donated to

Frederiksborg Castle Frederiksborg Castle ( da, Frederiksborg Slot) is a palatial complex in Hillerød, Denmark. It was built as a royal residence for King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway in the early 17th century, replacing an older castle acquired by Frederick ...

in 1617. Elizabeth likewise lived in Hessen until her death in 1626. During 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 ...

, the village was plundered by both Imperial troops under Count Gottfried Heinrich zu Pappenheim in 1628 and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

forces in 1641. After the war, the Brunswick dukes used Hessen castle only sporadically as a hunting lodge. The decayed building had to be restored by the ducal master builder

Hermann Korb Hermann Korb (1656, Niese (near Lügde) - 23 December 1735, Wolfenbüttel) was a German architect who worked mainly in the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Life Little is known of his early life. It is generally believed that he started ...

from 1726 onwards. By 1790, it served as the centre of a Brunswick demesne. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Hessen fell to the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...

and became part of

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

in 1949. Located near the inner-German border, the neglected castle complex fell into ruins and parts were demolished in the 1950 and 1970s. The remnants were secured and renovated since the Peaceful Revolution of 1989.

External links

Schloss Hessen, "Fördervereins Schloß Hessen"
{{Authority control Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt Osterwieck