Confessions of a Castleholic

The history of the domain of Schloss Derneburg dates back almost one thousand years. Originally built as a fortified castle, the main building became the manor house of Margrave Herman II of Winzenburg and his brother Heinrich, vassals of Count Burchard I of Locum, during the 12th century. However, Hermann feuded with Burchard and in 1130 arranged to have him murdered. Unfortunately for Hermann, his enemy was a close friend of Holy Roman Emperor Lothar III and the latter demanded that the Winzenburg family give up their properties as punishment. Schloss Derneburg , located in a Lower Saxon village by the same name, thus came into the hands of the Bishopric of Hildesheim, which was advised to open a religious sanctuary at the castle and thus the castle building remained in the hands of religious orders for the following 700 years. After the castle had been handed over to the Bishop of Hildesheim in 1143, the first Augustine nuns from the nearby abbey of Holle moved into the Schl...