Hünenburg Castle

The Hünenburg, also known as Frankenburg, near Rinteln in the Lower Saxon district of Schaumburg, is the ruin of a small hilltop castle of the type of a medieval dynastic castle in the Wesergebirge. No names of the builders and inhabitants are known, so it was given its name posthumously.

The Hünenburg is located in the Weserbergland Schaumburg-Hameln Nature Park, 1.6 km north of Rinteln train station and 1.4 km (as the crow flies in each case) east-northeast of the church in Rinteln's Todenmann district. North above the Rinteln district of Frankenburg, it is situated in the Wesergebirge on a south spur of the Lange Wand (Hainholz) about 230 m above sea level. Towards the south and Rinteln, the landscape of the spur slopes down into the Weser valley.

In 1895 and 1897, excavations uncovered ceramic shards and horseshoes, indicating a founding period in the 10th to 11th centuries. Furthermore, coins minted in Goslar from around 1080, during the time of Emperor Henry IV (1050–1106), were found on the south side of the palas.

Presumably, the two-part castle was intended to monitor and secure a pass between the Weser and Große Aue valleys. The oval core castle has a diameter of 27 by 35 meters. It was enclosed by a mortared ring wall 1.5 to 2.5 m thick, against which the buildings leaned. The foundations of the residential tower, the palas, and a castle chapel, which still show remnants of their opus spicatum masonry, are still visible. The excavated foundations have been restored.

The second part of the castle, the outer bailey on the mountain side, is separated from the core castle by a 5 m deep ditch and protected by a 7 m deep moat and a ring wall. The outer bailey still shows the remains of an unexcavated round tower. The castle complex presumably had a drawbridge.