Confessions of a Castleholic

If you have been a regular follower of Confessions of a Castleholic  over the past couple of years, you could have gotten the impression that the modern German state of Lower Saxony comprises only of former Guelph territories. While large areas of the current federal state were indeed part of the former Kingdom of Hanover or Duchy of Brunswick, there are two other former monarchies making up today's Lower Saxony: The small Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe around Bückeburg as well as the much larger Grand Duchy of Oldenburg. During the days of the monarchy, today's Schloss  served as the main residence of the Counts, Dukes and finally Grand Dukes. The earliest castle on the same spot as today's Schloss dates back to around the year 1100. It was built by the Counts of Oldenburg to control a trading route between Westphalia to the south and East Frisia to the north of Oldenburg. Due to the swampy grounds, the castle was based on stilts. During the course of the 15t...

It's the second week of January and this Castleholic has managed to achieve something she never has before: I have written about all the castles and palaces I visited during the previous year. Procrastinator no more! (I wish...) That kind of brings us to a problem though about the future upkeep of this space on the world wide web though that is the matter for another post... First, let's learn more about the history of the place that served as the residence of the electors and later kings of Saxony for centuries, shall we? We shall. While the future Residenzschloss was firstly mentioned in the 13th century, the expansion of the castle into a princely residence started around the year 1400 under Margrave Wilhelm I of Meissen, known as 'the One-Eyed'. During the mid to late 15th century, the structure was further extended according to the plans of master builder Arnold von Westfalen and turned into an enclosed four-wing castle. The Saxon rulers continued to enhan...

Potsdam is most famous for its magnificent palaces and parks that date back to the city's time as the former royal residence of Prussia. Today's Schloss is the best known of them all and the palace without worries: Schloss Sanssouci . The "humble" summer residence of King Friedrich II, 'the Great', counts just ten principal rooms yet is often considered one of the German rivals of the Château de Versailles characteristically laying above a vineyard just outside of Berlin. In fact, Friedrich the Great built Sanssouci as a private residence where he could relax away from the pomp and ceremony of the Berlin court. Friedrich is probably the most admired Prussian ruler, as famous for his military victories making Prussia one of the leading European powers as for his patronages of the arts and the Enlightenment. Sanssouci was his hideaway, the place of gathering for the "philosopher-king" with such famous names as Voltaire.  It was on Augu...