Tower of Berum Castle in 2007, as seen from the street
Berum Castle is located in the Berum district the East Frisian town of Hage in Germany. It is one of the most important sites in East Frisian history.
History
The castle is first mentioned in a document of 1310, as the seat of a member of the Syrtza (or Sytze) family, who was a chieftain of the Norden area. It is not known exactly when the castle was built, or for how long that family had already resided at the location.
In the 15th century, the castle was inherited by the Cirksena family. In 1443, Count Ulrich I of East Frisia expanded the castle to a château, consisting of a main castle with three wings, plus a front castle. On 1 June 1445, he celebrated his marriage to Theda Ukena, the granddaughter of his main rival, Focko Ukena, in Berum Castle. Since then, the castle has played a significant rôle in the history of East Frisia.
In the late 16th century, Count Edzard II extended the castle further as a moated castle in Renaissance style. This extension was completed in 1591 with the construction of a spire. After Edzard's death, his widow, Catherine Vasa of Sweden, a daughter of King Gustav I of Sweden extended the castle further, adding (among other extensions) a chapel. From then on, the castle was used by the Cirksena family as the widow's residence.
On 17 April 1628, Berum Castle was the scene of a tragic accident. The imperial army under generalMatthias Gallas had been quartered in the castle. The 26-year-old Count Rudolpf Christian got embroiled in a fight with a lieutenant of the imperial army. He was stung in his left eye and died of his wound.
Under Christine Charlotte, who lived there from 1690 to 1699 as the widow of Prince George Christian, the castle was again renovated, making Berum one of the most magnificent princely palaces in Germany.
Baroque gatehouse
After Prussia took over East Frisia in 1744, there was no more use for a widow's residence and the castle fell into disrepair. The main castle was demolished in 1764, with its precious furniture sold off. Until 1764, Berum Castle had had four wings and a heavy rectangular tower on the northwest corner. It was protected by a massive wall and a double ring moat. The parts remaining today are the front castle, a long brick building attached to the defensive wall with a brick gate tower, and the former Baroque gate passage. This portal is flanked by two columns; the pediments show the coat of arms of Princess Christine Charlotte. The exterior wall and the outer moat still exist. In the south are the remains of the Baroque garden of 1712.
Today the facility is privately owned and serves as a guesthouse. For example, Federal President Horst Köhler spent his summer vacation in 2006 at Berum Castle.
East Frisia or East Friesland is a historic region in modern Lower Saxony, Germany. The modern province is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia and to the west of Landkreis Friesland but is known to have extended much further inland before modern representations of the territory. Administratively, East Frisia consists of the districts Aurich, Leer and Wittmund and the city of Emden. It has a population of approximately 469,000 people and an area of 3,142 square kilometres (1,213 sq mi).
Balthasar Oomkens von Esens was an East Frisian nobleman who died during the siege of his castle in Esens by the Bremen army. He was described by his partisans as the last true Frisian freedom fighter, although some decried his seemingly insatiable appetite for violence.
Catherine Vasa of Sweden was a Swedish princess, and the Countess consort of East Frisia as the spouse of Edzard II, Count of East Frisia. She was the oldest daughter of Gustav Vasa and Margareta Leijonhufvud. She was the autonomous Regent of Berum and Norden in Ostfriesland from 1599 to 1610.
Edzard II was Count of East Frisia from 1561 to 1599. He was the son of Enno II of East Frisia and Anna of Oldenburg.
The County of East Frisia was a county in the region of East Frisia in the northwest of the present-day German state of Lower Saxony.
Ulrich I of East Frisia was the first count of East Frisia, from 1408 in Norden to 25 or 26 September 1466, in Emden. He was a son of the chieftain Enno Edzardisna of Norden and Greetsiel, and Gela of Manslagt.
The House of Cirksena was the ruling family of East Frisia. They descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel.
The Brokmerland is a landscape and historic territory, located in western East Frisia, which covers the area in and around the present-day communities of Brookmerland and Südbrookmerland. The Brokmerland borders in the east on the Harlingerland and in the north on the Norderland. The historic Brokmerland is usually written with only one "o". Occasionally one also finds the spelling "Broekmerland", while today's communities have chosen to spell the name with a double "o".
Theda Ukena was from 1466 to about 1480 regent of the County of East Frisia.
George Christian was a member of the Cirksena family and succeeded his brother Enno Louis as ruler of East Frisia. He ruled from 1660 to 1665. Under his reign, the Cirksena family acquired on 18 April 1662 the hereditary title of Imperial Prince.
Prince Christian Everhard of East Frisia was a Prince of East Frisia from the House of Cirksena from the day he was born in 1665, but remained under guardianship until 1690.
George Albert was a member of the family of the Cirksena and was the fourth Prince of East Frisia. He ruled from 1708 to 1734.
Uko Fockena was an East Frisian chieftain of Moormerland and Emsigerland.
Stickhausen Castle is located on the western edge of the village Stickhausen, a district of the East Frisian municipality Detern in the Landkreis of Leer in Lower Saxony.
Count Ferdinand Edzard of East Frisia was known as the "Count of Norden".
Enno Edzardisna was a chieftain of Norden, Greetsiel, Berum and Pilsum in East Frisia. He was the son of the chieftain Edzard II of Appingen-Greetsiel and his wife Doda tom Brok. Enno was a pioneer of the claim of the house Cirksena to the rule over all of East Frisia, which his son finally Ulrich I formally achieved when he was made an Imperial Count in 1464.
John III of Rietberg was a member of the Cirksena family. He founded the Catholic side line of the Cirksena in the Westphalian County of Rietberg, the so-called house of East Frisia.
The Saxon feud was a military conflict in the years 1514–1517 between the East Frisian Count Edzard I, 'West Frisian' rebels, the city of Groningen, and Charles II, Duke of Guelders on the one hand and the Imperial Frisian hereditary governor George, Duke of Saxony – replaced by Charles V of Habsburg in 1515 – and 24 German princes. The war took place predominantly on East Frisian soil and destroyed large parts of the region.
The Emden Revolution of 18 March 1595 marked the beginning of the status of Emden as a quasi-autonomous city-state.
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