Bodenburg Castle
Description
Bodenburg Castle is a privately-owned estate in Bodenburg, a district of Bad Salzdetfurth in Lower Saxony. It originated as a medieval moated castle and was transformed into a Renaissance-style residence in the 16th century.
The castle was first mentioned in 1108, when Meinfried von Bodenburg held it as a fief. After the original noble line died out, the Bishop of Hildesheim gave the castle to the von Steinberg family in the 14th century. From 1361 until 1941, Bodenburg was a Brunswick exclave. In 1905, the estate passed to the von Cramm family through marriage and remains in their hands today. While the main building is not open to the public, the former outer bailey, the castle park, and the art gallery can be visited.
The original castle was surrounded by a moat, rampart, and dry ditch, accessed by a drawbridge. A square medieval keep still survives. In the 16th century, the west wing was converted into a three-story manor house. A Renaissance-style staircase tower with angled windows and a domed roof is a notable feature. Restoration work took place in the 1980s and again from 2010–2012.
The castle garden, originally Baroque, was redesigned as an English landscape garden around 1830. It features rare trees and a central pond with a monument surrounded by historic gravestones. The park was restored in 2006.
On the former farmyard, a distinctive 1857 cattle barn with a curved 'saddle wave' roof now serves as an art exhibition space.
Address
Teichstraße 15, Bodenburg, Bad Salzdetfurth, Germany
Established
16th century