Sichelnstein Castle

Envy and jest gave the two castles on either side of the former Brunswick-Hessian border their names in connection with sickle and scythe, similar to the well-known example of the Rhenish castles Katz and Maus. According to legend, Duke Otto the Wicked of Brunswick built a castle at the foot of the Staufenberg solely for the purpose of more easily plundering the grain of the Hessians. In allusion to this, he is said to have named the castle Sichelnstein, while Landgrave Hermann the Learned countered him with Sensenstein Castle, hinting at more comprehensive intentions with the larger name.

However, neither the reason for the naming nor the time of construction of Sichelnstein Castle are documented. It is only confirmed by a document from the year 811 that two Saxon nobles named Amelung and Hiddi had to leave their land due to their devotion to Charlemagne and settled in the area of Vuivisanger, today's Wolfsanger. Hiddi's son Esiko founded the settlement Esikerode, today Escherode, while Amelung's son Bennit founded the village Benniterode, today Benterode. Both places, like Sichelnstein, now belong to the greater municipality of Staufenberg.

It is plausible that the next descendants of Amelung built Sichelnstein Castle in the 9th century to protect their fields, because at the end of a battle near Merseburg in 933, Amelung's great-grandson, who already called himself Wittilo von Sichelnstein, was knighted and received permission from King Henry I to adorn his white shield with a yellow border, two silver sickles, and a marble column in the middle, symbols that are still contained in the coats of arms of Sichelnstein and Staufenberg today.

With the outbreak of the Sterner War in 1372, in which the knighthood rose against the Hessian Landgrave, Duke Otto the Wicked of Brunswick had the castle fundamentally refortified and invaded Hesse with his knights from here, ultimately without success. The skirmishes, sieges, and plunderings ended in 1373 in favor of the Hessians, so Otto had to cede Sichelnstein and its associated office a year later.

Sichelnstein Castle and its office later changed hands several times through pledging. However, the castle must have been Brunswick again by 1379, because in that year it was assigned to Otto the Wicked's second wife along with Münden Castle and town as a dower and morning gift and later served the Duchess as a widow's residence. Around 1500, the Hessian Landgrave again administered the castle and appointed his vassal Friedrich Trott as bailiff there. He was in charge of the high court. This referred to the villages on the plateau above Münden, a term that is still common today for all the villages between Nieste and Werra. Large possessions, including the Kaufunger Wald, belonged to Sichelnstein Castle. As late as 1557, farmers from the villages of Nienhagen, Sichelnstein, Benterode, Wahnhausen, Lutterberg, Escherode, Landwehrhagen, Laubach, Spiekershausen, Speele, Hedemünden, Oberode, and Bonaforth had to deliver their share of tithe fruit.

No records exist about the later fate of Sichelnstein Castle, including its destruction, but it can be assumed that it shared the fate of many castles in the Thirty Years' War. After the castle's decay, its stone material was used in the construction of houses in Sichelnstein and Benterode. When the old village church in Benterode threatened to collapse in 1787, a new building was forced, and the remains of Sichelnstein Castle were used as a quarry for this purpose. The drawbridge and the castle gate access also disappeared more than 100 years ago.

The layout of the complex has a peculiar horseshoe shape, with its arch facing west and the straight side facing east. A seven to ten meter high surrounding wall forms the remains of the former fortress, from which all interior walls have disappeared. The castle must have been higher formerly, because there are no larger window openings in the still preserved walls, and only at a height of ten meters can the lowest window sills and openings be seen in the front. The castle is irregularly built; the angle of one corner does not resemble the acute angle of the other.

The medieval residential building can still be clearly recognized by slit-like windows with and without niches, the beginning of a continuous fireplace, internal corbels for supporting the ceiling beams, and external consoles with the bay walls of the secret chamber, as the latrine was called.

Deep moats, of which the western moat still exists, once protected the castle from intruders. The only access was from the east side via a gate secured by a drawbridge over the moat, which led to a castle gate in Gothic pointed arch form, through which one can still enter the interior of the ruin today.

After the newly founded Staufenberg, with financial support from the federal government and the district of Göttingen, preserved the ruin from further decay through thorough restoration between 1973 and 1979, this unique cultural-historical monument in the municipality quickly developed into a meeting point and gathering place for citizens and associations and for holding cultural events. The castle complex now houses an open-air stage, which is used for concerts in the summer months. The entire castle courtyard can be covered with a retractable tent roof construction. The complex can also be rented for weddings and other celebrations.

Sichelnstein Castle ruin can be reached, for example, via the Staufenberg/Lutterberg exit of the A 7 or, coming from Hann. Münden, via the B 496 branching off from this motorway exit and then via district roads connecting to this short federal road and leading towards Sichelnstein. Access to the ruin is on Burgstraße opposite Am Borngraben street. Parking is available here.