Henneckenrode castle

Schloss Henneckenrode stands in the village of Henneckenrode in Lower Saxony. Heinrich von Saldern built it in 1579 in the Weser Renaissance style. The four-winged complex encloses a large inner courtyard and includes a former orphanage. A 2.6-hectare pond fed by the Nette forms part of the protected ensemble. The site also contains two pavilions, the former castle church and a landscaped park. The castle church of St Joseph was erected in 1597 by Burchard von Saldern. A house chapel inside the castle is recorded from 1910, and another was consecrated in 1970 by Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen. The orphanage operated from 1838 until 2017 under different religious orders. During the Second World War the building served as a Wehrmacht hospital. The agricultural estate remains leased to provide income for the foundation. Visitors walk through the symmetrical Renaissance garden laid out around 1580. Its square parterre once had four equal sections framed by box hedges and a central circular place. Terraces and alleys once framed views across the pond to the Nette valley and the Wohldenberg castle. A reconstructed garden area and restored pond were completed in 2000 and 2013. The castle’s west front shows typical Weser Renaissance details, while the east side is reinforced by tall buttresses.