Germany · Restored
Herzberg Castle
Schloss Herzberg
Herzberg Castle (Schloss Herzberg) is a quadrangular Welf schloss on a wooded eminence above Herzberg am Harz in Lower Saxony. The present building has medieval origins and was rebuilt after a major fire, completed in 1528, with a sandstone base and timber-framed upper wings. It served as a ducal residence for centuries and today contains a museum and cultural facilities.
Its prime
1528
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1528
What Herzberg Castle looked like in its prime.
A long, enclosed four-winged schloss on a wooded hill, forming a rectangular courtyard; lower levels are of pale sandstone while three of the upper wings display white infill with dark timber framing in a strict grid. One wing’s upper storey is stone. The roof is a continuous steep red tile roof stretching along the long façade. A two-storey gatehouse and barbican provide the approach, and a clock tower occupies the eastern corner with timber upper storeys and an ornamental cupola and weather vane.
Its story
The story of Herzberg Castle.
Herzberg Castle has its origins in the 11th century as a medieval castle, and because it belonged to the House of Welf for 700 years it is also known as the Welfenschloss. In 1144 the Welfs gave it to the von Göttingen family of ministeriales from Bavaria, charged with maintaining the castle and its surroundings; in 1218 Empress Maria of Brabant, widow of Emperor Otto IV, made out a deed here, briefly making it an imperial residence.
From 1290 the castle was the residence of the newly formed Welf line of Brunswick-Grubenhagen, and from 1337 to 1714 it was a ducal residence almost continuously, the dukes of the Principality of Grubenhagen lived here from 1486 until the line died out in 1596. A serious fire in November 1510 nearly killed Duke Philip I, his wife Catharine and their son Philip, rescued at the last minute from the engulfing flames; the duke's shield bearer and the duchess's chambermaid died.
Rebuilt after the fire, Herzberg is one of the few schlösser in Lower Saxony constructed as a timber-framed building. Completed in 1528, the enclosed four-winged quadrangle has sandstone basements, timber-framed upper floors on three of its wings, a two-storey gatehouse with barbican and the Clock Tower at its eastern corner; today it contains a museum and cultural facilities.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1528.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Herzberg Castle, including 2 interiors: sandstone basement and lower works, great hall interior. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Herzberg Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1528, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate this castle →Castle Siege
Play Castle Siege at Herzberg Castle.
A strategy game played on Herzberg Castle’s real ground plan: the same surveyed walls shown in the archive below. Post your finite garrison on the battlements between assaults, then hold out as rams, siege towers, trebuchets and sappers arrive in ever-worse waves.
Sign in free to see the garrison muster. One castle costs 150 Clan Coins and is yours forever.
Sign in to take command →Whose castle
Clans who held Herzberg Castle.
The families that held Herzberg Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Welf
Held by the House of Welf for 700 years, the "Welfenschloss"; a ducal residence almost continuously from 1337 to 1714.
From the archive
Herzberg Castle on paper: the measured plan and period views.
The survey plan and photographs below are the ground truth this page's reconstructions are checked against, drawn and photographed while the castle was still a working garrison. Every image is public-domain or openly licensed, with its source named.
Bad Herzberg. Schloss
· Deutsche Fotothek (via Europeana)
Public domain
Bad Herzberg. Schloss
· Deutsche Fotothek (via Europeana)
Public domain
Bad Herzberg. Castle
· Deutsche Fotothek (via Europeana)
Public domain
