Calenberg Castle
| Calenberg Castle | |
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Battery tower at the main entrance. Above ground, all that remains of the fort are its mighty ramparts and a few building ruins.
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 Location within Germany
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| Alternative names | Fort Calenburg (Feste Calenberg) |
| General information | |
| Type | Lowland castle (Niederungsburg) |
| Classification | Ruined |
| Location | Pattensen-Schulenburg |
| Coordinates | 52°11′47″N 9°47′47″E / 52.19639°N 9.79639°ECoordinates: 52°11′47″N 9°47′47″E / 52.19639°N 9.79639°E |
| Completed | from 1292 |
| Owner | Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Princes of Calenberg |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Stone structures and earth ramparts |
Calenberg Castle (German: Burg Calenberg, later called Schloss Calenberg and Feste Calenberg; ruins known as Alt Calenberg) was a medieval lowland castle in central Germany, near Schulenburg in the borough of Pattensen, 13 km west of the city of Hildesheim. It was built as a water castle in 1292 by the Welf duke, Otto the Strict, in der Leine river meadows between 2 branches of the Leine river on the southern part of the chalk marl hill of the Calenberg. At the start of the 16th century it was converted into a fort (Feste). In the 15th century, Fort Calenberg gave its name to the Welf Principality of Calenberg. Following the Thirty Years' War it lost its military importance and was slighted. Today it is a ruin with underground vaults that are surrounded by high ramparts.
The word Feste or Veste ("fort") stems, like the words Festung ("fortress") and Befestigung ("fortification") from the adjective fest ("strong", "firm" or "immovable"). The adjective in turn has its roots in the Middle High German and Middle Low German word veste and the Old High German word festi meaning: fortress, castle, fortification and security of a location.
The word syllables Kal, Kalen-, Calen- in the word Calenberg are derived from the word kal in the Middle High German and Middle Low German languages and mean "bare", "stripped" or "treeless". The name formations with Kal, Kalen or Calen could refer to the geological base of rock or stone. So the word Calenberg means the same as kahler Berg or "bare hill".
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