Castle Fürstenberg

Fürstenberg Castle is located in Fürstenberg (Weser) in the district of Holzminden in the Solling-Vogler Nature Park and is home to the Fürstenberg Porcelain Manufactory.

Middle Ages

On the "Vorstenberch" (Forstinberg), the rocky ridge of the Kathagenberg, a tower castle was built to secure the military road and the Weser border against the Brunsburg and the city of Höxter on the other side of the Weser. Around 1300, it became part of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and was first mentioned in a document in 1355. In 1382, the tower castle was the property of Duke Otto I of Brunswick-Göttingen and belonged to the Principality of Göttingen.

According to a legend reported by Johannes Letzner, the castle belonged to the County of Dassel in the early Middle Ages.

Modern Era

Around 1600, Duke Heinrich Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel converted the fortification into a hunting lodge, whose facade was built in the Weser Renaissance architectural style. The hunting lodge was also the seat of the Fürstenberg office, from where the princely lands and forest areas were administered. In the mid-18th century, the castle was only partially used as a hunting lodge, and Karl I of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel commissioned his chief huntsman Johann Georg von Langen to establish a porcelain manufactory, which has been located at the castle since its founding on January 11, 1747.

The previous administrative buildings were moved outside the castle, and additional residential houses for the workers were built. From 1807 to 1813, the castle and the manufactory belonged to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia and, after the Congress of Vienna, became part of the Duchy of Brunswick.

In 1972, a new production building for the porcelain manufactory was erected next to the castle, and production in the castle ceased. The subsequent additions to the original castle were removed. The castle, which is now a protected monument, has housed the museum of the porcelain manufactory since 1957 and provides an overview of its production from its beginnings in the Rococo period to the present day. Since 1997, theater performances have also been staged by Schlosstheater GmbH.