Plesse Castle is situated to the north of Göttingen in Germany, close to the village of Bovenden.

The castle was transferred in 1015 from the private estate of Meinwerk, bishop of Paderborn to the city of Paderborn. Since 1150 it is the seat of the noble lords of Plesse, who named themselves for the castle. Holy Roman emperor Henry VI traded Plesse Castle in 1192 for Desenberg Castle close to Warburg in Westphalia, but the trade was already reverted in 1195. In 1447 the lords of Plesse transferred their possession of Plesse Castle to the Landgrave Ludwig of Hesse and in return received it as a fiefdom. The explanation for it lies in the fragmentation of the dukedom of Brunswick-Göttingen. The leading noble families could not avoid being drawn into the ensuing conflicts. They therefore sought protection from a powerful liege lord. They found this protection and backup with another ruler, who was Ludwig of Hesse.

In 1536 the protestant reformation was introduced to the dominion of Plesse, which also comprised the surrounding villages. The house of Plesse became extinct with the death of Dietrich IV of Plesse in 1571. Landgrave William IV of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) then took possession of the dominion of Plesse, as this was his right as liege lord. Moritz of Hesse-Kassel converted the people of the Plesse dominion to the reformed creed in 1614. Between 1623 and 1624 he and his family took refuge in the castle various times. After a siege in 1627 during the Thirty Years' War the castle and the dominion of Plesse were ceded temporarily to the landgrave George II of Hesse-Darmstadt. In 1660 the castle was abandoned finally and afterwards served as a quarry for the residents of the surrounding villages.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited the castle in 1801. Subsequently to French occupation in 1807 the dominion became the Canton Bovenden in the Kingdom of Westphalia. After the collapse of Westphalia in 1813 the now Electorate of Hesse-Kassel retook control of the dominion of Plesse. In a barter between Prussia, the Kingdom of Hanover and the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel the dominion of Plesse became part of Hanover on May 1, 1817. Starting in 1821 first attempts to restore parts of the castle were undertaken, and between 1853 and 1864, on initiative of the ruling family of Hanover, it came to a complete restoration of the castle. The earlier affiliation of Plesse to Hesse can still be seen even today. The villages of the former dominion of Plesse still belong not to the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover, but belong to the Evangelical Reformed Church.

Plesse Castle

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The original Adelebsen Castle , which was later converted into a castle , is a well-preserved, medieval complex on a sandstone rock in Adelebsen , about 15 km west of Göttingen in the district of Göttingen . It was about 800 years the seat of baronial sex those of Adelebsen that in 1957 with the death of George Baron of Adelebsen in the male line died out. Today the castle complex belongs to the Adelebsen Castle Foundation.

History

The place Adelebsen was 990 under the name Ethelleveshusen in connection with a donation of lands by King Otto III. first mentioned in a document to his sister Sophie. There is little reliable information about the beginnings of the castle complex. At the beginning of the 13th century, the lords of Wibbecke settled from their ancestral seat nearby on the sandstone cliff overlooking the village and built the castle here in the following years. In 1234 the family was first mentioned in a document under its new name de Adelevessen . The first mention of a permanent house on the mountain spur dates from 1253; the castle was first mentioned in 1295. 

The castle complex was built during several construction periods in the 14th century. In its entirety, the castle comprises the castle hill, which is made of red sandstone and slopes down to the adjacent Schwülmetal in a steep slope of 30 m, the terraced mountain garden and the farmyard in the valley. The castle was divided in the north into the outer castle , with the only preserved castle gate, and the central upper castle.

The castle was set on fire by the Bishop of Hildesheim in 1466 and, like the town of Adelebsen, was badly damaged in the Thirty Years' War . The reconstruction work on the castle began around 1650. The castle was transformed into a palace in 1740 through building extensions. For this purpose, the ditch separating the main castle from the outer castle was filled in. Also created other buildings, as in 1685, the Forestry House, 1749 Rentei and a 38 m deep castle well with treadmill . Around 1900 the castle received a mansard roof .



Adelebsen schloss

Grubenhagen Castle (German: Burg Grubenhagen) is a ruined medieval castle in North Germany dating to the 13th century. It is not far from the town of Einbeck in southern Lower Saxony.

The ruins are located in the district of Northeim on a 298 metre high hill summit on the Ahlsburg ridge, south-southwest of Einbeck and east of the Solling hills, between the basin of the River Ilme and the valley of the Leine. The castle may be reached via a narrow forest path from Rotenkirchen, a village south of Einbeck, which is on the northern edge of the ridge and below the castle ruins and not far to the northeast.

The hill castle of Grubenhagen was built in the 13th century. Only the round, 18 metre high bergfried remains today. Attached to its southeastern side is a building from the 19th/20th century. The raised plateau of the inner ward, with its relatively small area, is oval and slightly kidney-shaped. It is about 63 metres long and 32 metres wide. Below it is the outer ward. The site is surrounded on three sides by a double ditch. On the fourth side the terrain drops away steeply, rendering a ditch unnecessary. To the northeast and southwest the remains of the ringwall and revetments have been preserved. A Merian engraving around 1650 shows the castle still with a round keep and a roofless building in front of it with a gable. On the outer ramparts of the main ditch was a defensive wall with a chemin de ronde behind the battlements to the northwest. To the north and northwest the engraving depicts the remains of another defensive walkway with embrasures.

The lords of Grubenhagen were the counts of Dassel and the Welfs. It is not clear exactly when the castle was built, but it probably appeared during the reign of Henry the Lion (1129 to 1195). The castle was first mentioned in the records in 1263. At that time the castellans (Burgmannen) in possession of the castle were the ministerialis family of Grubo or Grube, later Grubenhagen. At the end of the 13th century the castle went back to the dukes of Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

The castle gave its name to the Welf Principality of Grubenhagen founded in 1291 by Henry the Admirable. It was however never really the residence of the principality. It first appears as a "house" of the dukes in the early 15th century. The dukes mainly resided at the castle of Heldenburg not far away and, later, in Herzberg am Harz. The name of the Principality of Grubenhagen first appeared around 1617, its previous name is unknown.

In 1448 Henry III of Brunswick-Grubenhagen had to fortify himself in the castle, after he exposed himself to attack by Landgrave Louis I of Hesse following a raid in the area of Hofgeismar. A siege army deployed in front of the castle with a heavy cannon. The castle could not be taken however. Instead the disappointed attackers devastated the villages of the neighbourhood: Altendorf, Reinsen, Bensen and Rotenkirchen. The last-mentioned was rebuilt in 1520 as a supply depot, residence and administrative seat for the dukes.

In the period that followed Grubenhagen Castle was rarely occupied. The Grubenhagen Line of the House of Welf died out in 1596 and it fell to other Welf lines, who did not use the castle for 200 years. In 1815/16 Duke Adolf Frederick of Cambridge took ownership of the castle from the desmesne of Rotenkirchen. As viceroy of the Kingdom of Hanover the duke had the timber-framed manor house in Rotenkirchen converted by master builder Laves into an elegant hunting lodge. He also had the stables built onto the existing castle tower. From 1861 to 1866 Rotenkirchen was the summer residence of the kings of Hanover.

Grubenhagen Castle was neglected in the years after the Second World War and fell into further ruin. Even the door to the tower was walled up so that it could no longer be ascended.

Since 1977 a citizens' group, the Grubenhagen Castle Society (Burgverein Grubenhagen), has looked after the castle site. The keep has been renovated with donations and grants and the old horse stable can be used for events. The site is once again a popular destination for day trippers. The tower can be climbed, but the key must be collected beforehand in the village from the castle tower keeper (Burgturmwart).

Grubenhagen Castle (Einbeck)

The Alte Burg is a ruined spur castle that only comprises half a bergfried and is located in the Lower Saxon district of Osterode in the Harz Mountains of central Germany. The name means "Old Castle".

The ruins stand on a hill spur between the valleys of the rivers Söse and Lerbach. Today the ruins find themselves within a cemetery. The castle ruins cannot actually be visited even though access through the cemetery is possible.

Of the old castle on a site measuring 40 x 60 metres, only a small part of the bergfried has survived. The greater part of the castle was used as a quarry and much of the stone was carried away. The remaining tower ruins were extensively repaired. Originally the round bergfried was 33 metres high and had an outside diameter of 15 metres. Its walls were up to 3.5 metres thick and it had 5 stories.

The castle was first recorded in 1153. It belonged in the 12th century to Henry the Lion. After his death, his son, Otto IV inherited it. Later he bequeathed it to Otto the Child. Other owners were Albert the Tall and Henry the Admirable. In the 14th and 15th centuries the castle became the seat of the dukes of Grubenhagen and was used as a dowager seat for the family. It was last lived in by Duchess Elisabeth who died in 1513. After that it fell into ruins.