Visit of the Hämelschenburg Castle
The Castle of Hämelschenburg is located in Emmerthal in the Weser Uplands between Hamelin and Bad Pyrmont. With its art collections, gardens, a water mill, farm buildings and church, it is considered a major work of the Weser Renaissance.
It was built at the beginning of 1300. According to the guide, the von Klenckes family, beginning of the year 1437, were given the lands of Hämelschenburg by letter of feudal tenure. The land included the castle, the church an ca. 1000 acres (400 hectares) of forest, farmland and pastures !!! It still belong today to the von Klenckes family.
In 1544 a great fire destroyed all the buildings and the village. Reconstruction begins with the church in 1563. It is the first Lutheran church built after the Reformation. Formerly the von Klenckes's private chapel, it became the parish church for four surrounding villages in 1652. The interior is notable for its Renaissance art. The farm buildings and a school followed. During construction of the castle (1588-1613) a mill was built at the riverside.
Currently a television troupe is shooting a film in the castle. They did not tell me name of the movie, but I think it's set in the Middle Ages, as I saw some actresses dressed in typical medieval clothes while visiting the castle rooms. As not all the rooms can be visited, I got a discount on the ticket price.
The tour begins with a visit of the old church.
From the church we can see the castle.
Häimelschenburg Castle was built in the style known as Weser-Renaissance. This architecture is typical for buildings constructed in northern Germany during the 16th century. Weser-Renaissance combines decorative elements of the Italian Renaissance (Ionic and Corinthian pilasters frame the windows of the north wing, friezes gargoyles and garlands decorate the facade), the French Renaissance as found in 16th century castles in the Loire valley (octagonal shaped towers with slanted windows), Dutch architecture (highly decorated stepped gables) and the German decorative embossed sandstone work on the facade of the south wing.
Then, by crossing the street, we reached the castle.
The castle is surrounded by a water-filled moat and a garden. Access to the castle is now via a stone bridge. In the ancient time the castle had a wooden drawbridge, that about 150 years ago had been replaced with the stone bridge, still present today. Under the moat there is a natural water source, which feeds the water of the moat.
Originally the moat totally surrounded the castle, but in the late 19th century, the moat was partially filled in. A chestnut lined driveway now led to the courtyard with direct access to the forest behind the castle, where a mausoleum built in the form of a pyramid in 1855 and exotic imported trees created an English garden or park, popular at the time.
Today, it is summer time, the water level is low and the color of the water is green, due to the algae that grow inside it.
Unfortunately extensive remodelling and modernisation of the castle took place in the late 19th century, therefore much of the charm of past centuries has been lost. The bay window was moved from the Court of Justice on the facade of the North to the Middle Wing. Individual guest-rooms replaced it and the Hall of Knights. The stables and kitchen were converted into banquet halls and the sandstone tiled roof renewed with slate. Running water and electricity, which was produced by a generator at the mill, were installed.
Today only the rooms on the ground floor are open to the public. The remaining part of the castle is currently inhabited.
The first room we visited is he pilgrim hall, or entrance Hall.
Hunting was a favourite pastime, as the many antler trophies indicate.
Here we can see portraits of the founders of the castle: George and Anna von Klencke. George served the Duke by leading his troops to fight the various wars. Agriculture at that time prospered and the Weser River enabled easy trade of the products to other parts of Europe. Anna had a large dowry.
In 1609 George died, leaving Anna to complete the construction of the castle and to raise their twelve surviving children.
The second room is the renaissance bedroom.
This room was not originally a bedroom, but for museum reasons it is so now. It is a small room with a bed and linen cupboard. The round arches, pilasters and Ionic columns both reflect elements of the Renaissance style. In a corner of the room, near the entrance door, there is an old ceramic stove. These stoves were very popular in the European patrician houses of the time. I remember that the first time I saw one was many years ago, when I visited the Schönbrunn palace in Vienna (the palace where princess Sissi lived).
The next room is the Baroque room.
Empire room
In this room on either side of the mirror are portraits of Georg Ludwig Klencke and his wife Elisabeth Knigge.
The red room
The Hunting room
This was the "servant's area" of the castle.
Here there is a stair that brings you down to the cellar.
In the cellar there are three rooms.
First cellar: the Armoury room, with a collection of weapons used in war; spoils from the wars against the Turks, hunting rifles, duetting pistols and sables are displayed.
Second cellar: here is a huge machine for making fabrics
Third cellar: shown here are old books and an old lithographic printing machine.
This concludes the small tour of the castle. Unfortunately some rooms, like the dining room, were not shown, probably due to film footage :(
Finally is the old mill, outside the castle.
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