Wolfsburg Castle

The Wolfsburg is a medieval lowland castle on the River Aller in eastern Lower Saxony. It began as a tower house mentioned in 1302 and grew into a water castle with moats and drawbridges. In the 17th century the von Bartensleben family transformed it into a Renaissance palace in the Weser style. The coat of arms above the entrance shows a leaping wolf and two sheaves of corn. After the family died out in 1742 the castle passed to the counts of Schulenburg. The castle’s four wings enclose an inner courtyard reached through a round-arched portal. The west wing contains the plain bergfried, the oldest part, dating from the 13th century. Three corner towers give access to the floors: the 30-metre Watchman’s Tower, the Owl Tower and the Wendelstein with its circular stair. The east wing, built in the 17th century, displays elaborate Weser Renaissance decoration and houses a 30-metre-long Garden Hall. Visitors walk through the fortified entrance flanked by stone horsemen and shields. Inside, the Garden Hall and smaller Chamber Room show the family’s power. The moats that once surrounded the site are still visible, and the Aller valley setting remains peaceful. The castle’s history is written in its walls, from medieval cannon to 19th-century terraces.