Coppenbrügge Castle

Coppenbrügge Castle, also known as Schloss Coppenbrügge, is the well-preserved ruin of a moated castle in the municipality of Coppenbrügge in the district of Hameln-Pyrmont in Lower Saxony.

Between 1280 and 1300, the Counts of Spiegelberg built a moated castle complex as the center of their county and to secure the old military and trade route from Aachen to Königsberg, which led over a corduroy road through a swampy area near the castle. In 1303, the castle was first mentioned in a document with its new construction. After the castle was severely damaged during the "Spiegelberg Feud" in 1434 - the counts were branded as robber knights - the now impoverished Spiegelbergs inherited the County of Pyrmont in 1494 and rebuilt the castle in the early Renaissance style. The new seat of the Spiegelberg counts became Pyrmont Castle; an administrator remained at Coppenbrügge Castle.

From 1631, the castle was in Nassau possession and was already dilapidated by 1697. At this time, it was the meeting place of Tsar Peter the Great on his journey with the "Grand Embassy" from Moscow to Amsterdam with Electress Sophie of Hanover and her daughter Sophie Charlotte of Hanover.

In the 18th century, the castle was renovated in the Baroque style, resembling a palace, by the House of Nassau-Orange. After its sale to the Kingdom of Hanover in 1822, the castle was demolished, and around 1870, the outbuildings followed, except for a half-timbered house (chancery building) at the back of the castle courtyard. In 1945, the ruin was briefly used as a quarry. Afterwards, the former chancery building served as the seat of the Coppenbrügge district court and is now used as a museum.