Harzburg

Harzburg
Große Harzburg
Bad Harzburg, Lower Saxony
Reconstruction of foundation walls of a tower
Harzburg
Coordinates	51°52′17″N 10°34′03″E / 51.87139°N 10.5675°E / 51.87139; 10.5675Coordinates: 51°52′17″N 10°34′03″E / 51.87139°N 10.5675°E / 51.87139; 10.5675
Type	Hilltop castle
Code	DE-NI
Height	482 m above sea level (NN)
Site information
Condition	Wall remnants, ditch
Site history
Built	1065 to 1068
Garrison information
Occupants	King, emperor

The Harzburg, also called Große Harzburg ("Great Harz Castle"), is a former imperial castle, situated on the northwestern edge of the Harz mountain range overlooking the spa resort of Bad Harzburg in Goslar District in the state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It was erected from 1065 to 1068 at the behest of King Henry IV of Germany, slighted during the Saxon Rebellion in 1073-75, and a century later rebuilt under Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and his Welf successor Otto IV, who died here in 1218.

Later used as a robber baron's lair, the hill castle crumbled into ruins over the centuries. Today it has almost completely disappeared; only fragments of the foundation walls and the towers together with the castle well are preserved.

Mentioned as Hartesburg in a 1071 deed, the name of the castle (German: Burg) is derived from the Harz mountain range, called Hart in Middle Low German, and is probably affiliated with hardt meaning "mountain forest". Therefore, Harzburg can be translated as "Harz Castle".

The ruins of the Große Harzburg are located above the spa town and the Radau valley, on the top of the Großer Burgberg hill at a height of 482.80 metres (1,584.0 ft). The summit can be reached by the Burgberg Cable Car and has an outstanding view past the neighbouring summit of Kleiner Burgberg (436.50 m (1,432.1 ft)) in the northwest over the northern Harz Foreland with the Harly hill range and far into the North German Plain. Southwards, the view goes over the densely forested mountains of the Harz National Park up to the Brocken massif.