The Wendhausen Castle is a 17th-century moated castle located in Wendhausen, a community within the municipality of Lehre, Lower Saxony.

The castle is built in a Renaissance style surround by a large moat. The moat has an oblong shape with the castle being at the far eastern end. The western area within the moat was part of a beautiful and ornate gardens.

The first mention of a moated castle at this location was in 1325 and was in the possession of the Duke of Braunschweig. Throughout its early history, it has numerous owners and was repeatedly burned. In 1602, the castle was completely destroyed. In 1682, the property was given to Philipp Ludwig Probst (de) as compensation for services by Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel Duke Rudolf August and his younger brother Duke Anton Ulrich. A water tower was constructed the same year. Probst, the Chancellor of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, began building the Renaissance-style castle on the foundations of the moated castle dating to the 14th century. The complex included a cavalier house, barn, gatehouse and stables. The castle was completed in 1688. After Probst, Konrad Detlev von Dehn (de) owned the castle and remodeled it using Versailles as a model. With his vision, he designed parks complete with gondolas.

A number of owners followed Dehn until the prominent Vieweg family leased the estate in 1836 and finally purchased the castle in 1873. The Vieweg's were well-known publishers from nearby Braunschweig and also built the Wendhausen Windmill. The Vieweg's created a large art collection. The last Vieweg heir died in February 1939 and the art was auctioned off in the following spring. The city of Braunschweig purchased the estate in 1941.

Following World War II, it was used as an auxiliary hospital, as a recovery facility and also as a kindergarten. Between 1985 and 1992, it remained empty and in 1992, a three-year complete restoration began and was finished in 1995.

The castle is currently a private residence and owned by Kristin Adams. It can be reserved for weddings.


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The Essenrode Manor in Essenrode, a town within the municipality of Lehre, Lower Saxony, was built by Gotthart Heinrich August von Bülow in 1738.

The mansion is built in a late Baroque style surrounded by a small English-style park. The park grounds are surrounded by a moat that once included a drawbridge, which was part of earlier fortifications built in 1337. To provide extra protection, these fortifications were constructed and surrounded by outbuildings.

The property has been owned by three different families throughout its history. From 1337 to 1625 it was owned by the von Garssenbüttel family.

In 1627, ownership was transferred to an aristocratic family, von Bülow, who controlled the property for the next 210 years (1627 to 1837). The von Bulow's built the current mansion as it is today. Former Prussian, Kingdom of Westphalia and Duchy of Magdeburg politician, Hans, Count von Bülow, was born here in 1774. In 1750, Karl August von Hardenberg, Prussian reformer and Minister President of Prussia, whose mother was a von Bülow, was born in the mansion. Karl spent much of his childhood at the mansion and it's during this time that many of his future reforms were developed.

Since 1837 it belongs to the Lower Saxon noble von Lüneburg (de) family.

Essenrode Manor

Brunswick Palace (German: Braunschweiger Schloss or Braunschweiger Residenzschloss) on the Bohlweg in the centre of the city of Brunswick (German: Braunschweig), was the residence of the Brunswick dukes from 1753 to 8 November 1918.

Work on the first building was begun in 1718 under the direction of Hermann Korb. After this building burned down in 1830, a second palace was built by Carl Theodor Ottmer, being completed in 1841. This was completely demolished in 1960 at the direction of Brunswick's city council due to the heavy damage it had suffered in air raids during the Second World War. The Palace Park (Schlosspark) was laid out on the resulting waste ground. This was completely removed in the spring of 2005 - following another resolution of the city council in 2004 - in order to erect a large shopping centre, the so-called Schloss-Arkaden (Palace Arcades), by spring 2007 on the land that had been cleared. Its western facade was to consist of a faithful reconstruction of the facade of Ottmer's palace. The rebuilt palace was opened to the public on 6 May 2007.

Brunswick Palace

Dankwarderode Castle (German: Burg Dankwarderode) on the Burgplatz ("castle square") in Braunschweig (Brunswick) is a Saxon lowland castle. It was the residence of the Brunswick dukes for centuries and, today, is part of the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum.

Dankwarderode Castle was built between c. 1160 and 1175 as the Pfalz of Duke Henry the Lion on an island in the river Oker. Next to the castle, 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. In 1616 the palas was remodelled in the renaissance 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 completely 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 of the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum.



Dankwarderode Castle

Richmond Castle (German: Schloss Richmond) is a castle built from 1768 to 1769 in Braunschweig, Germany for Princess (later Duchess) Augusta, wife of Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand. It lies near the Oker river in the south of the city. The architect was Carl Christoph Wilhelm Fleischer.

The castle was named after the princess's English home in Richmond Park, a royal park now in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

The castle grounds are located along Wolfenbütteler Straße ("Wolfenbüttel Street") in the city district of Heidberg-Melverode. The building is built in Baroque style, and has a square floor plan with the entrance at one corner. The state rooms are located on the diagonal, and on either side of these, there are private rooms and a mezzanine floor. The facade is divided into pedestal, pilaster, and entablature areas, with a balustrade parapet. Projecting avant-corps and perrons (staircases) emphasize the respective ends of the corps de logis.

Compared to the original plan, the designs of the balustrade, staircases, and roof were changed over the course of time. For example, in 1785 the architect Christian Gottlob Langwagen improved the lighting in the central part of the building by installing a roof lantern with 12 windows.

In 1935, the city of Braunschweig acquired the castle grounds from Duke Ernst August. Since 1945, the building has been used for public events. The 18th-century paintings in the interior of the building were restored from 1977 to 1981.

The park was created along with the castle in 1768, in the style of a classic English landscape garden. Together with the Wörlitzer Park, it is one of the earliest landscape gardens in northern Germany.

The park was designed by the renowned English landscape architect Lancelot "Capability" Brown and is similar in structure and details to Richmond Park, a royal park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. A special feature of the park are the long lines of sight that extend far into the country from the castle. Brown's intention was possibly to create a peaceful, picturesque, ideal representation of a landscape painting.

Over the years, the original design was modified and adapted to the tastes of the respective era. From 1830, Duke Wilhelm employed the court gardener Johann Christian Burmester to expand the park significantly. Between 1833 and 1838, more buildings were added – the Ducal Villa and Schloss Neu-Richmond or Williams Castle (which no longer exists). In addition, larger water areas and an island were created.

The park has been open to the public since 1964. The nearly four-acre park, largely neglected after the end of the Second World War, was reconstructed in 1987 after the historic original design.

The castle is not open every day and can only be visited with a guide. Only the state rooms on the ground floor (the three on the diagonal and two smaller rooms facing the gardens on either side of the diagonal) are accessible to the public, because the first floor is a private residence.

In 1871, a Braunschweig brewery was named after the castle's popular name, Feldschlößchen. A travelling brewer from Braunschweig took the name to Switzerland and founded the Feldschlösschen brewery in Rheinfelden in 1876.

Since 1982, the Gerstäcker Museum has been housed in the former guard and kitchen house.

Schloss Richmond

Fallersleben Castle (German: Schloss Fallersleben) is located in Wolfsburg in the German state of Lower Saxony and, together with Neuhaus and Wolfsburg Castles, is one of the most important historic buildings in the town. It is in the district of Fallersleben and forms an historic setting along with the castle lake, St. Michael's Church and the Old Brewery.

The castle was built from 1520–51, after its predecessor had been destroyed during the Hildesheim Diocesan Feud (1518–23). It was originally laid out as a horseshoe with the courtyard open on its south side. By 1760 the castle was surrounded by a moat, about 12 metres wide and 5 metres deep. Access was only possible over two bridges. One bridge and a section of moat was reconstructed in 1998 on the basis of archaeological excavations. Before that its water castle character was scarcely recognisable because the moats had been filled in. Of the original three wings of the castle, only the west wing, with its spiral staircase tower, in the inner courtyard has been preserved. It is a timber-framed building about 40 metres long on a stone foundation. There is also a royal court, the Kavaliershaus.

In the old castle buildings there were 16 living rooms (parlour (Hofestube), bed chamber (Schlafkammer), apartment (Gemach), young ladies room (Jungfrauen-Stube)) as well as the rooms for officials, kitchen staff (Wirtschaftspersonal), the armoury (Rüstkammer) and silver room (Silberkammer) of the ducal seat. Numerous outbuildings belonged to the castle, such as the Old Brewery, and extensive estates that were later converted into a ducal domain (Domäne). In 2001–03 Fallersleben Castle was renovated in line with its status as a listed building.

Fallersleben Castle, like Gifhorn Castle, was owned by Duke Francis of Brunswick and Lüneburg (1508–49). He died whilst it was being built, however, when he was 41 years old. From 1539 he ruled the Duchy of Gifhorn, in which Fallersleben lay, from his ducal seat in Gifhorn. Francis introduced the Reformation into the state. His wife was Clara of Saxe-Lauenburg, daughter of Duke Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg. After the death of her husband, Francis, she was given the castle as a dower and completed its construction in 1551. She lived for over 27 years in Fallersleben and generated a boom in the small town of Fallersleben (coinage (Münzordnung) was introduced in 1555, a market system (Marktordnung) in 1573, a brewery (Brauordnung) etc.). She died in 1576 during a visit to Barth, Germany and was buried there. After her death a Drost (manager) lived at the castle. Renovations were carried out in 1616 by Duke Christian, in 1636 by Duke Augustus and in 1649 by Duke Frederick. In the mid-17th century the ducal residence was given up and the main building of the castle became the seat of an Amt in which, from 1855, civic authorities were accommodated (finance office, court, town hall).

Since 1991 the basement of the castle has housed the Hoffmann von Fallersleben Museum, a museum about the history of German literature and democracy in the 19th century. It portrays the life of the poets of the Deutschlandlied and the history of its Kinderlieder. On the upper floor is an art gallery with paintings by Franz Hoffmann-Fallersleben (only child of Hoffmann von Fallersleben). Also worth seeing there are the wood carvings and stuccoed ceilings. The castle also has a suite of rooms that may be hired for events.

In 2001-03 archaeological investigations were carried out on the castle site. These exposed cellars with barrel ceilings (Tonnengewölbe) and walls 1.3 metres thick. Since the excavations the cellars and foundation walls have been covered with glass so that visitors can see them. Formerly the cellars under the castle were linked together and acted as store rooms for food.

Fallersleben Castle

The Wolfsburg is medieval lowland and water castle in North Germany that was first mentioned in the records in 1302, but has since been turned into a Renaissance schloss or palace. It is located in eastern Lower Saxony in the town of Wolfsburg named after it and in whose possession it has been since 1961. The Wolfsburg developed from a tower house on the River Aller into a water castle with the character of a fortification. In the 17th century it was turned into a representative, but nevertheless defensible palace that was the northernmost example of the Weser Renaissance style. Its founder and builder was the noble family of von Bartensleben. After their line died out in 1742 the Wolfsburg was inherited by the counts of Schulenburg.

The name Wolfsburg (literally "Wolf Castle") does not indicate that the region of the Vorsfelder Werder in which the castle is located had a large number of wolves, even though there were certainly wolves in the nearby wet meadows of the Drömling. The wolf that gave its name to the castle is a heraldic beast on the coat of arms of the von Bartensleben family who built the edifice. Their coat of arms comprises a leaping wolf above two sheaves of corn. The family brought the name "wolf" with them, because they can be traced back to 1188 when they were still living at Bartensleben Castle in the village of Bartensleben about 40 kilometres to the south. In the 20th century, the city built here in 1938 was named after Wolfsburg Castle. Initially it was called the Stadt des KdF-Wagens ("Town of the Strength through Joy Car") because of the industrial plant established to build the Volkswagen. After the end of the Second World War, the city council decided to rename the city Wolfsburg on 25 May 1945.

Since the 17th century the castle has been a four-sided, solid building surrounding an inner courtyard. The main body of the castle thus has four wings, which are named after the points of the compass. The upper outline of the castle with its finely decorated cross-gables, lucarnes and pointed roofs of the wall towers form a contrast with the fortification-like walls.

Outsize stone figures on horseback decorate the palace entrance with its round arch. Above the portal there are stone shields with the coat of arms of the Bartenslebens, chimera (Neidköpfe) and equestrian figures. The portal architecture, like the terrace with its great perron on the park side, is a 19th-century addition.

The bergfried is integrated as an element of the west wing into the main structure and is recognisable as such by its lack of decoration and windows. The tower has an area of 9 x 9 metres, a height of around 23 metres and wall thickness of up to 3 metres. It is the oldest part of the whole site and its origins may go back to the 13th century.

In the internal corners of the courtyard there are three other towers with staircases that enable the individual floors to be accessed. These are the Watchman's Tower (Hausmannsturm) which at around 30 metres is the highest, the Owl Tower (Uhlenturm) and the hexagonal Wendelstein tower with its circular staircase. They were built in the 16th century as the castle was converted into a palace.

The north and south wings from the 16th century were mainly used for residential purposes. The roughly 25 metre high east wing was completed at the beginning of the 17th century. With its splendid decorative shapes in the Weser Renaissance style, it was very much an ostentatious reception building. On the ground floor there is a 30 metre long and 9 metre wide hall, the present Garden Hall (Gartensaal). Adjacent to it is a smaller hall the Chamber Room (Kaminzimmer) and the Gerichtlaube (district office). From the inner courtyard the wing shows traces of an arcade that once ran in front of it. At roof height it is surrounded by corbels that presumably once carried a wooden wall walk. This wing of the building clearly shows how, by the end of the 16th century, the power of the von Bartenslebens was visibly demonstrated through their architecture.

The reason for the construction of the Wolfsburg was the enfeoffment of land in the area of the present-day city of Wolfsburg to the noble family of von Bartensleben in the 13th century. These knights also watched over the trade routes where they crossed the River Aller and that entailed the construction of a fortification to protect their lordship. The first definite record of the castle was in 1302 where it is referred to as the Wluesborch. The document is made out by the four brothers: Borchard, Günzel, Günter and Werner von Bartensleben. They were a ministerialis family (unfree knights), who came from the village of Bartensleben near Helmstedt. Their family members appeared at that time in the region, including in 1288 at the castle in Vorsfelde. In addition there is another record dating to 1135, but it is not clear whether this refers to the Wolfsburg or a predecessor castle. Emperor Lothar III then awarded the newly founded Benedictine abbey of Kaiserdom Königslutter with diversified estates, including a Wulvosburg, that is named in connexion with the village of Käsdorf.

During the Middle Ages the castle was not an enclosed site, but consisted of the bergfried and an attached building, the Old House (Altes Haus) in the present west wing. The site was a strong fortification of considerable strategic importance. Later it was even equipped with cannon, for according to a 1437 document the number of guns was to be increased by 10 pieces in the event of war. According to this record, there were only attacks on the castle during the feud of the von Bartenslebens against Duke Otto of Lüneburg in 1464, whereby it was intended to be largely demolished (mehrentheils demoliret worden seyn).

The Wolfsburg emerged from the Thirty Years' War as one of the few aristocratic castles that remained undestroyed. It was almost continuously garrisoned by troops of the warring parties, the last being the Swedes. The lords of Brunswick and Magdeburg forced their withdrawal came in 1650 by having the castellans have the fortifications slighted. Six years later the von Bartenslebens had the fortifications rebuilt because they wanted to retain the military character of the castle.

In the early stages around 1300 the Wolfsburg only had a stone tower house (Wohnturm) on the Aller, whose precursor may have been a wooden watchtower in the style of a lowland motte. The present, roughly 23 metre high tower, later designated as the bergfried, is the oldest surviving part of the present site. It was accessible halfway up by a wooden staircase or ladder that could be hauled up in the face of enemy attack. To begin with, it may have been the tower house of the von Bartenslebens themselves. Over time it did not do justice to as an aristocratic residence and domestic building, and as a consequence other buildings and fortifications were constructed. Within the later castle, the bergfried acted as a dungeon and prison.

Due to its situation in the Aller valley, the castle was probably surrounded by water from the outset. Certainly until the 19th century it was protected by two moats that were fed from the nearby Aller and the Hasselbach stream. The inner moat encircled the castle itself which, together with its drawbridges, made it a water castle. The outer moat surrounded the larger outer ward (Vorburg), a refuge place for the lord's subjects in time of war. In addition this area was protected by a curtain wall with defensive bastions or Rondellen, against which the later domestic buildings and stables, the present coach houses (Remisen) were built. Investigations in recent times revealed that the castle was not, as previously suspected, built on piles in boggy terrain. For the most part it stands on a sandy subsoil and only rests in places on oak piles.

In the middle of the 15th century, a medieval castle no longer reflected the status of the von Bartenslebens. They turned the less comfortable building into a showy palace in the Weser Renaissance style with gardens and parks. Nevertheless it retained the character of a fortified water castle until 1840, when the protective moats were filled in as the Aller river was artificially confined and controlled.

In 1574, thanks to his great fortune, Hans von Bartensleben, the Wealthy (der Reiche), was able to begin the conversion of the castle. For this work he employed masons, stonemasons and carpenters, whom he paid. The socage rendered him by the peasants of the villages of the Vorsfelder Werder provided free manual labour as well as horses and carts. When the Bartenslebens unduly imposed on them, the farmers complained (for example in 1600) to their overlord, Duke Henry Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. From then on, socage was restricted to "only" ten hours in summer and eight hours in winter, twice a week, although travel time from the villages, which were up to 15 kilometres away, was not counted.

Hans the Wealthy had the Red House (Rotes Haus), a section of the building that had fallen into disrepair, demolished and erected in its place the present north wing with the entranceway to the schloss. When he died in 1583, his relative Günzel, his brother Günther and their uncle Jakob continued the work and built the ostentatious east wing. Then followed the south wing as the Palas with its Great Hall. Not until 1620 was the palace completed in its present shape as a four-winged building with enclosed courtyard and outside dimensions of 50 x 60 metres.

In converting it into a Renaissance palace, architecture and ornamentation were influenced by the Weser Renaissance style, of which the Wolfsburg is a typical example, as well as the most northeasterly one. The builders, stonemasons and sculptors who took part had also been involved in building palaces in the Weser region, for example, the Hamelin builder, Johann Edeler (also: Johann von der Mehle).

Wolfsburg Castle

Wolfenbüttel Palace contains the only state and private apartments of the High and Late Baroque in Niedersachsen. For some 400 years up to the year 1754, the palace served as the residence of the Dukes of Braunschweig (Brunswick) and Lüneburg. Created from a medieval castle and a Renaissance palace, the superb facades and exceptional state apartments of Wolfenbüttel Palace now make it a complete baroque artwork.

Various notable personalities of German and European history were born in the palace, grew up here or were active at the court. The later Empress Elisabeth Christine – the wife of Emperor Charles VI, mother of Empress Maria Theresa and grandmother of the French Queen Marie Antoinette – was born here, as was Duchess Anna Amalia of Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, who gave her name to the famous Weimar Library. Two famous visitors to the palace were Electress Sophie of Hannover and her son, the later King George I of Great Britain, while other illustrious visitors to Wolfenbüttel Palace included Tsar Peter the Great of Russia and the Prussian King Frederick William I, the Soldier King, and his son Frederick the Great.

The ducal apartments are the only ones of their kind in Niedersachsen and here one can gain an idea of everyday courtly life in the age of absolutism. Every Sunday at 10.00 am, visitors can experience various aspects of the courtly culture during a guided tour.

Wolfenbüttel Palace

Gifhorn Castle (German: Schloss Gifhorn) is a castle in Gifhorn, Germany, built between 1525 and 1581 in the Weser Renaissance style. The castle was fortified until 1790 with moats, ramparts and bastions and was never captured. In the 16th century it was the Residenz of the Duchy of Gifhorn under Duke Francis of Brunswick-Lüneburg for just 10 years.

This well-fortified castle was built in the shape of a trapezium. It was surrounded by ramparts and a moat up to 50 metres wide. The immediate vicinity could be flooded to create a swamp. Stone bastion towers were built on the four corners of the site. These were linked to the castle by underground rampart passages (Wallgänge) in the form of casemates. A 45 metre long section is preserved today that led to the north bastion. Today it is used today to house exhibitions for the castle museum. The original entrance to the castle was over a bridge on the narrow side of the castle moat in the southeast, that led to the gatehouse. Today the main entrance is through the old south bastion which has been reconstructed using sections of wall arranged in a circle. The following castle buildings are grouped around the inner courtyard:

The gatehouse (Torhaus) is the oldest building and was completed in 1526, one year after work began on the castle. Due to its oversized dimensions it was probably originally planned as a single building. The roof, with its semi-circular gables is extraordinary and none like it has been preserved anywhere else. Until the 18th century the entrance to the castle was through the gatehouse; after that it was used as a grain store.
The Ablagerhaus is the largest building in the east wing and acted from the 18th century as a residence for senior Gifhorn officials such as the Amtshauptmann. Its name, which means 'visit house', is derived from the fact that the occupants of its rooms had to vacate them when there was a lordly visit (Ablager) e.g. by royal hunting parties. This building contains the Great Hall (Rittersaal).
The castle chapel (Schlosskapelle) was built in 1547 and was the first religious building built for Protestant services in Germany. It contains the sarcophagus of Duke Francis on a gallery (Empore) below a window and a life-size, kneeling statue of the duke. The sarcophagus of his wife, Clara of Lauenburg, is empty, because she died during a trip to her Pomeranian home in Barth. Nevertheless, there is also a statue of her.
The Kommandantenhaus of 1581 was the residence of the Schlosshauptmann or Amtshauptmann. Later in the 19th and 20th century it became the seat of the county court (Amtsgericht)
The staircase tower of 1568, with its spiral staircase, links the gatehouse tower with the Ablagerhaus
The prison (Gefangenenhaus), armoury (Zeughaus) and grain store (Kornmagazin) in the west wing no longer exist. Instead, the prison complex (Justizvollzugsanstalt) was built here in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The fortified predecessor of the castle was a moated castle on a defended, artificial hill built in the angle between the rivers Aller and Ise. According to an investigation around 1900 by the pre-historian, Carl Schuchhardt, the old castle - of which nothing remains today - was built around 1000. It is mentioned for the first time in a deed of 1296 where it is called Castrum Gifhorne. It was besieged, probably during fighting between Duke Albert the Fat and his brother, Henry the Admirable. At the end of the 13th century renovation work was carried out on the castle under the direction of Otto the Strict. As the village of Gifhorn developed, the importance of the castle grew, both for security reasons and as a customs post on a trade route. In the 14th century it was frequently enfeoffed to, amongst others, the lord of Veltheim and the town of Brunswick. In 1396 Duke Frederick transferred the castle to his wife Anna of Saxony as a life annuity. In the 15th century other tenants followed, like the von Bülows (1467), von Alvenslebens (1470), von Quitzows (1472) and von Bodendiekes (1477). During the Hildesheim Diocesan Feud the castle and town were destroyed in 1519. Both belonged at the time to the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

The present structure was built from 1525 as a completely new castle, not on the site of its predecessor, but on a hill on what was then the northern edge of the town of Gifhorn. It was commissioned by the Protestant dukes, Ernest the Confessor of Brunswick-Lüneburg and his brother Otto of Celle. Ernest gave the castle as a wedding present to his wife, Sophie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, on the occasion of their marriage in 1528. It was given to her as an annuity, under which she could use the building and its revenue. In 1539 Duke Ernest gave the castle and its surrounding Ämter to his youngest brother Duke Francis, who had returned from the court of the Elector of Saxony and was demanding his share of the inheritance.

On taking over the castle in 1539, Duke Francis was able to indulge his noble image of himself and attended to his princely representational duties unfettered. He had Gifhorn Castle expanded as his Residenz and led an ostentatious, courtly life. At the same time he built Fallersleben Castle as a rural aristocratic estate. Life with his more prudent brother, Ernest and the relatively modest standard of living in the small Celle Residenz was not enough for him. Francis engaged the fortress architect, Michael Clare, from Celle. His works dominate the appearance of Gifhorn Castle.

After the death of Duke Francis in 1549 the castle ceased to be a princely Residenz. The Duchy of Gifhorn that had lasted just 10 years from 1539 to 1549 was re-absorbed into the main ducal house in Celle. The widowed duchess, Clara, had to move out of the castle rooms and take up her dowager residence at Fallersleben Castle. Thereafter Gifhorn Castle became the residence of a bailiff (Amtmann). Occasionally it was used as accommodation for the royal hunting parties of the Celle dukes, who came here in order to hunt in the great forests around Gifhorn.

Nevertheless the castle was retained as a fortress, because it had a strategically important function for the Celle dukes on the southeastern flank of their dukedom. The castle was run by a castellan (Schlosshauptmann) and, from 1734, a seneschal (Landdrost). He was the fortress commander (Festungskommandant) and, from the 16th century onwards, commanded a force of armourers (Waffenmeister), Büchsenschützen and Landsknechten. From the time it was built the fortress withstood every attack. Enemy troops, like the Swedes, Danes, league (Ligisten) and imperial troops in the Thirty Years War and French armies in the Seven Years' War quartered themselves in the town of Gifhorn but avoided attacking the castle.

The last Schlosshauptmann, Ulrich von Veltheim allowed the fortifications to be dismantled between 1770 and 1780, because it was no longer equal to technological advances of that time. The moats were reduced to half-width and entrances were constructed at the northern and southern bastions. The fortified gatehouse was converted into a grain store. From the 18th century, district administrators (Landräte) officiated in the castle. A fundamental renovation and redevelopment of the whole castle area took place between 1978 and 1983. Today the castle is home to the following:

Gifhorn district with the district council rooms
Great Hall Event Venue (Veranstaltungsort Rittersaal)
Gifhorn Castle History Museum with 1000 m² of exhibition area showing the development of Gifhorn from ancient times to the present
The castle restaurant
The prison (Justizvollzugsanstalt)