Großbodungen Castle

Burg Großbodungen, also known as Schloss Großbodungen, is a former moated castle located at approximately 270 m above sea level on the Haynröderbach in the center of the municipality of Großbodungen in the Eichsfeld district in Thuringia. The watchtower of the castle is the landmark of Großbodungen.

History
In 1461, Duke Wilhelm of Saxony, as Landgrave of Thuringia, enfeoffed the Counts of Hohenstein, Schwarzburg, and Stollberg with the towns and castles of "Lare, Utterode, Elrich, Bodungen, and Blicherode". The well-preserved and elaborately decorated original document is located in the Thuringian State Archive Rudolstadt and will be shown in its original form for the first time in Großbodungen on the occasion of the 550th anniversary of its issuance. The document is considered the first written mention of the castle, although its history dates back further.

The former moated castle was built in the 13th century by the local nobility, the Lords of Bodungen, as a defensive castle. In 1329, the family expanded the castle with a stone residential building with a fireplace. By 1417 at the latest, the Lords of Bodungen, as ministeriales of the Mainz bishops, gave up the castle and its associated fiefs. The castle came into the possession of the South Harz Counts of Hohnstein, who sold the castle and its associated demesne in the 16th century to Hans von Berlepsch, a son of the Wartburg captain who offered refuge to Martin Luther at the Wartburg. The von Berlepsch family, through extensive renovations of the castle complex, gave it its architectural form with a half-timbered courtyard, which has been preserved to this day. The entrance to the castle was moved from the west to the east side; the cellar vault was also expanded and greatly enlarged. In 1593, the line of the Counts of Hohnstein died out, and the castle passed into the possession of the Counts and later Princes of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, who were related to the Hohnsteins. It served as a warehouse and for economic administration. After the abdication of the last reigning Prince Günther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt-Sondershausen (1851-1925), the castle became the property of the municipality of Großbodungen in 1920 during the Weimar Republic. Since 1994, the castle has been in the private possession of the Counts of Westphalen-Fürstenberg, who purchased the castle from the municipality of Großbodungen.

Current Use
Since 1998, art exhibitions, lectures, and reading evenings on topics from art, culture, politics, economy, and society have been held in the castle's rooms (gallery). Furthermore, a mineral and fossil exhibition can be seen in the vaulted cellar. The castle can be visited by groups in certain areas by prior arrangement with Gerlinde Countess von Westphalen (and Raban Count von Westphalen). Due to the high demand for events at the castle gallery, the gallery's premises were moved to the "historic Kemenate", a half-timbered building from the 17th century, located 200 meters away and originally belonging to the castle. Exhibitions, readings, lectures, and events such as the Day of the Rose (last Sunday in June), Open Monument Day, and the traditional Großbodungen Christmas market on the 1st Advent Sunday take place there. The Kemenate also houses a café with a café garden.

Layout
The castle complex is characterized by the 27-meter-high watchtower (keep) in the facade of the four-winged, three-story building group with a Kemenate above a barrel-vaulted cellar and a light well in half-timbered construction, as well as a large garden with ecological rose cultivation. The moats of the castle complex have been filled in. The watchtower provides nesting sites for kestrels and barn owls. The monument is maintained by the owner family.