Burg Hardenberg     (Castle Hardenberg)

Both the Castle (see 1330 seal) and the town in the Netherlands used to have an 'h' now only Americans have the 'h'. FINISH ME! 2010.11.26

Martin started off his tour by looking out over the valley (see ViewFromCastle.jpg) and asked "What do you see out there". After some guesses by Cornelius & me, he finally said "traffic". Sure enough, we could see many large trucks passing along Autobahn 7, which is also E45, the longest European Route. That is why the Hardenberg Castle is where it is. Below is a panorama taken from the Castle that shows the traffic. If you click on it to open the larger version, you can clearly see the large trucks on the Autobahn.

From "Die Burg Hardenberg" as translated by Google with some guesses and rewriting by me.

For several thousand years, the major artery between north and south has led through the village of Nörten. The early carriage road connected the Nordic countries with the south and made trade possible between the seaside towns of North and Baltic Sea and the southern commercial centers like Frankfurt and Augsburg. In the Deed of Petersstiftes, 1055 AD, already is an old bridge (ad veterum Ponte) mentioned crossing the Leine.

The interests of Mainz were great in this room, but is mentioned in Carolingian times an early church. Roads made the construction of an administrative and monitoring center both necessary and possible, is so on the rocky castle hill one built "vestes house" (fortress) that is mentioned in 1101 in documents, for the visiting archbishop Ruthard of Mainz his castle for years in this "the Mainz home" refers in part to a building already in 1560 not to be measured precisely. (no idea what that is really saying, other than a fortress was record in 1101 AD)

For several decades because of an ongoing dispute between Mainz and Brunswick, the Duke of Brunswick in 1287 laid siege to the mountain hard with a strong army.

1357 enters the family Hardenberg as owner of the castle. was the clashes between the secular diocese and were trailing, the cities and countryside and forced the Burg men to be constantly ready for defense. Often residents fleeing Nörten to the castle had to be accommodated during emergencies. A moat and tower big enough to hold weapons and armor had to be maintained. These measures caused high cost spent by the men in the Burg Mainzner Interest. The result was ultimately to blame sum of 600 silver lötigen marks against which the lien Mainz traded. (The castle was too expensive for the Bishop of Mainz and eventually, the Hardenberg family assumed owenership) [end of book excerpt]

To the right is the title page and table of contents. There are many beautiful maps of the lands of the family from 1745.

If you are considering a visit, make sure to call ahead to Hotel Hardenberg to arrange for a private tour. When we went in the fall of 2010, the private tour was 46 Euros. This was so worthwhile. First, the Castle is only open on Sundays off season and second, you can ask all of the questions you want. Our guide was named Martin and while he apologized for his English, it was quite good (much better than my German).

I took some notes, but, I rally should have written this passage that day!

Cap: Fireplace.jpg	Cap: HbergDE.jpg	Cap: hbergSeal.jpg
The distillery was started in 1702	Cap: CMHCastle.jpg	Cap: Knights2.jpg
Cap: NameHardenberg.jpg	Cap: TrainStop.jpg	Cap: Radefeld1851.jpg

Old Castle Page (from 2002)

Castle Hardenberg Nörten-Hardenberg, a town in the Hartz mountains of Germany, also know as Norten Hardenberg, or Noerten Hardenberg. Situated on a large rock overlooking a major north-south trade route, there has been a castle there for a long time. However, the current castle looks relatively modern.
The brochure talks about 1000 years. Any stories? Here exists Castle Hardenberg and below it is a hotel of the same name.   http://www.burghotel-hardenberg.de/ Back to hardenbergh.org