Hude Castle

Burg Hude was a medieval stronghold built by an unknown archbishop near the Hamme river crossing in what is now Ritterhude, Lower Saxony. It stood on the left bank of the Hamme, where the river once looped around the site before the Hamme Schleuse altered its course. The fortress was first held by the Eler family, ministeriales of Bremen, before being granted to the knights ‘de Huthe’, later called ‘von der Hude’. The castle’s importance lay in controlling the old river crossing, but it was destroyed in 1305 during a feud between Bremen and the local nobility. Six members of the von der Hude family had to swear oaths of peace to the city that same year. After repeated flooding from Weser diversions and failed rebuilding, the family moved inland to Dammgut, though claims to the ‘old wall at Hude’ persisted into the 15th century. Traces of the site vanished long ago, though 1874 excavations near the Hamme Schleuse uncovered massive oak and beech trunks forming a raft-like foundation. Within these remains were medieval potsherds, wild boar bones, iron tools, a dagger and an axe. Granite blocks recovered at the same time helped confirm the location. Today the area is marked only by the field name ‘Borgwische’, hinting at the vanished motte.