Spangenberg Castle

Spangenberg Castle is a schloss above the small German town of Spangenberg in the North Hesse county of Schwalm-Eder-Kreis. The originally Gothic building was first a medieval fortified castle, then a fortress, hunting lodge, prison, forestry school and is now a hotel and restaurant.LocationSpangenberg Castle is located on the wooded hill of Schloßberg, between the town of Spangenberg in the Pfieffe valley to the east and south, and the village of Elbersdorf on the Pfieffe tributary of Essebach to the west and north.HistoryThe first castle on the site was probably built by the lords of Treffurt, who came from Thuringia, as the centre of their small barony in the region around Spangenberg and Morschen. From here, it could guard the important trading route "through long Hesse" from Frankfurt to Leipzig. This road was an important factor in the development of the newly founded settlement below the castle, which was already being referred to as a town (civitas) in 1261. However it was not until 1309 that it was granted town rights by the knights, Hermann and Frederick of Treffurt, in accordance with the Lippstadt town rights act. The size and shape of the 13th-century hilltop castle are not exactly known. In the southern part of the site, parts of the original palas have survived. This housed the social and residential quarters for the family of the castle lord. Access to the castle was probably especially well protected from the outset and the entire site was surrounded by a wall. It is likely that most of the outbuildings were initially constructed in the half-timbered style. Since a supply of drinking water was essential, the well, about 100 metres deep, would have been sunk during the construction of the castle.