Blankenhagen Castle () was a

lowland castle The term lowland castle or plains castle () describes a type of castle that is situated on a lowland, plain or valley floor, as opposed to one built on higher ground such as a hill spur. The classification is extensively used in Germany where ...

(''Niederungsburg''), whose ruins are located by the

River Aller The River Aller is a small river on Exmoor in Somerset, England. It rises as several small streams around Tivington and Huntscott and flows through the Holnicote Estate passing Holnicote and through Allerford, where it passes under a packho ...

near

Grethem Grethem is a municipality in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alp ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, Germany. The

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively eas ...

castle is believed to have been built around 1200. It is supposed that there used to be fortified buildings on the two low mounds or mottes, and that a bailey was constructed on an outer island-like area.

Location

The castle stood in the

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

landscape of the Aller valley about half a kilometre northeast of

. It lies today between the Old Leine (200 m west) and Aller (400 m east) rivers. It is accessible via a track that leads to the ferry crossing over the Aller to

Eickeloh Eickeloh is a municipality in the Heidekreis district, in Lower Saxony, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps ...

Description

Of the two preserved castle mounds, which are devoid of any stone ruins, the higher one has a diameter today of about 25 m. It is roughly 4.5 m high and covered by bushes. The mound is surrounded by a hollow which may have been the old, inner ditch. About 40 m further northeast is another artificially built mound. It is triangular in shape and is about 30 m long. It has a height of 3 m and is also covered in bushes. Both mounds were surrounded by a

circular rampart A circular rampart () is an embankment built in the shape of a circle that was used as part of the defences for a military fortification, hill fort or refuge, or was built for religious purposes or as a place of gathering. The period during which ...

, which has only partly survived. It has a present-day height of around 1.3 m and a width of 13 m. In front is a hollow that was probably the outer ditch. In the immediate vicinity of the castle it has been established that there was an island-like elevation, on which a bailey could have been located. The castle site appears in the Royal Hanoverian Map Series (''Kurhannoversche Landesaufnahme'') of 1779. It is still present in Prussian mapping (''Preußische Neuaufnahme'') around 1900 shown as a semi-circular rampart.

Archaeological Research

The site was added to the list of cultural monuments in 2002 and in 2004 a more detailed inspection was carried out. This included a magnetic survey,

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

and the production of a digital relief model. In 2005 security measures were taken on the main motte, which had suffered from damage as a result of cattle grazing.

History

The castle is not mentioned in the records. It is thought to have been founded by the lords of Blankena ( Blankenhagen), who were closely related to those of

Hodenberg The Hodenberg family is an old German noble family originated from Lower Saxony. The originally '' hochfrei'' family line belonged to the fourth military feudal level or ''Heerschild''. History Since early times the von Hodenberg lords were ...

. The lords of Blankenhagen were mentioned in the 13th century in connexion with

Hodenhagen Castle Hodenhagen Castle (German: ''Burg Hodenhagen'') is the site ('' Burgstall'') of a former lowland castle (''Niederungsburg'') built in the 13th century in the vicinity of Hodenhagen in the German state of Lower Saxony. This medieval manor house on ...

. Their line seems to have soon died out however.

Similar fortifications in the local area

Within the neighbourhood, in the valley of the Aller, there is a number of other medieval castles, some of similar design. These fortifications include those in

Bierde Bierde is a village in the municipality of Böhme, Lower Saxony, that is part of Heidekreis district in the German state of Lower Saxony. Bierder Burg Near the lake, known as the Bierder See, is a wood in which the ruins of an old castle are ...

Ahlden Ahlden is a municipality in the Heidekreis district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Aller, approx. 15 km southwest of Bad Fallingbostel, and 30 km southeast of Verden. Ahlden is located in the Samtgemeinde ("coll ...

( Bunkenburg), Essel ( Uhlenburg) ( Blankenburg Castle), Hodenhagen (

) and

Rethem Rethem () is a town in the Heidekreis in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Aller, approx. 25 km southwest of Bad Fallingbostel, and 18 km southeast of Verden. The town was the scene of heavy fighting over the period ...

. Blankenhagen belongs to the group of former castles, that were researched between 2003-2005 by the ''Burgenlandschaft Aller-Leine-Tal'' (B.A.L.T.) project. The project was supported by the European aid programme LEADER+, because it had located castle sites in the Aller-Leine Valley area.

Literature

* Burgen im Fluss, Herausgeber: Landkreis Soltau-Fallingbostel, Bad Fallingbostel, 2005, {{Coord, 52.730367, N, 9.584756, E, type:landmark_region:DE-NI, display=title, format=dms Buildings and structures in Heidekreis Castles in Lower Saxony Archaeological sites in Germany Ruined castles in Germany Lowland castles