Saldern

Saldern (up to the 17th century, Salder) or von Saldern, is the name of an old German aristocratic family from the areas of Hildesheim and Brunswick Land. The family seat of the same name is an eponymous castle on the River Fuhse in Salzgitter-Salder. Originally the family, whose branches are still alive today, only owned estates in the Lower Saxony area, but from the middle of the 16th century they also owned extensive property in the March of Brandenburg.

According to legend the founder of the line (Stammherr), Sieghard de Rosis, came to Germany from Rome in 718 with St. Boniface. In 1102, the family is mentioned for the first time in the chronicle, Chronicon coenobii Sancti Michaelis, in Hildesheim. According to this document, the knightly family of von Saldern was enfeoffed that year with tithe rights (mit den Zehnten) by St. Michael's Abbey near Nettlingen (Söhlde).

According to historical records the first member of the family to be classed amongst the nobiles layci ("lay nobility") was Thidericius de Saldere in 1161. The titled aristocratic line begins in 1226 with the knight, Burchard von Salder. From 1299 to 1332, a Johann von Salder is also recorded.

In 1267, the Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, Otto the Child, bequeathed the Lüneburg estates to his son, John. These included Lichtenberg Castle in present-day Salzgitter, thus John became the lord of the castle (Burgherr).

In 1273 records show that court jurisdiction ["circa castrum Lichtenberg"] was exercised in the castle. In 1299, Aschwin von Salder was named as the judge and bailiff (Richter and Amtmann) here. It is possible that the lords of Saldern had already been given advocacy rights (Vogteirechte) by this time.

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