Schloss Pyrmont, sometimes called Pyrmont Castle, was a schloss and the summer residence of the counts of Spiegelberg and counts of Waldeck-Pyrmont in the present-day German town of Bad Pyrmont. The current building dates to the 18th century and houses a museum. The schloss is part of Pyrmont Fortress (Festung Pyrmont) which dates to the 16th century.
Between 1526 and 1536, Count Frederick VI of Spiegelberg, overlord of the County of Pyrmont, built a fortress and schloss in valley of Pyrmont. He had experience in the construction of the fortress when he had reinforced Coppenbrügge Castle with walls and roundels. The fortress of Pyrmont was almost square in shape with a 40-metre-wide moat. The walls had casemates and a stone corner bastion, which echoes the Italian style of fortification. Access to the fortress was via a wooden bridge and later a drawbridge. Buildings were built inside the walls and, in the south-western area, the first schloss was built.
Following the completion of the castle in 1536, it was garrisoned by Count Frederick VI, who resided in neighbouring Lügde. Later the schloss became the side wing of a larger schloss, which his son, Philip, had built in 1557 in the Weser Renaissance style. According to tradition, this was a three-storey building with three wall dormers, similar to the Hämelschenburg. In addition, a tower was built for archiving documents. Philip died before the completion of the Renaissance schloss. The building was completed by the husband of his sister, Hermann Simon of Lippe. Afterwards the counts of Lippe and the counts of Gleichen resided at the schloss. In 1625, Count Hans Louis of Gleichen transferred the County of Pyrmont to the Count of Waldeck.
During the Thirty Years' War, the succession dispute between the Bishopric of Paderborn and the Counts of Waldeck revived. For the Bishopric, troops under General Pappenheim, besieged the Pyrmont fortress in 1629, and its 400-man garrison surrendered after ten months. In 1633, Swedish troops recaptured the fortress, which was reconquered in 1636 by the Imperial Army. After being taken again by the Swedes in 1646, the fortress was handed over to the Counts of Waldeck in 1649. The schloss suffered damage as a result of the sieges. Rebuilt in haste, it served as a summer residence for the counts of Waldeck, but it was also neglected in the period that followed and began to deteriorate.
When Count Anthony Ulrich of Waldeck-Pyrmont took over the regency of Waldeck and Pyrmont in 1706, master builder, Hermann Korb, built a new schloss in the Baroque style. The new building was erected between 1706 and 1710 on the basement and other parts of the earlier residence. As early as 1721, architect, Julius Ludwig Rothweil, extended the building. A commander's house, two cavalier houses and a magazine were built. The fortifications were overhauled. In addition, the Baroque gardens were redesigned. Further changes followed in 1765 under the direction of Franz Friedrich Rothweil. Between 1852 and 1855, several buildings were added and the schloss given its present appearance.
During the Second World War, a hospital was established in the schloss, because Pyrmont was a hospital town. After the war, the British Red Cross remained in the castle until 1948. In 1956, the state of Lower Saxony acquired the fortress and castle from the princely family of Waldeck and Pyrmont. The first redevelopment took place from 1960 to 1962; another followed from 1978.
From 1984 to 1987, architect Karl-Heinz Lorey renovated and redesigned the schloss and fortifications for use by the then district folk high school and as a museum. [1] The castle grounds are also used for various events.
Waldeck may refer to:
Bad Arolsen is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and then until 1929 as the capital of the Waldeck Free State. The International Tracing Service has its headquarters in Bad Arolsen. In 2003, the town hosted the 43rd Hessentag state festival.
Bad Pyrmont is a town in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river Emmer, about 10 km (6.2 mi) west of the Weser. Bad Pyrmont is a popular spa resort that gained its reputation as a fashionable place for princely vacations in the 17th and 18th centuries. The town is also the center of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Germany.
Schieder-Schwalenberg is a town in the Lippe district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km (12 mi) east of Detmold.
Coppenbrügge is a municipality in the Hamelin-Pyrmont district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximatively 15 km east of Hamelin.
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Princess Ida Caroline of Waldeck and Pyrmont was a member of the House of Waldeck and Pyrmont and a Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Through her marriage to George William, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, Ida was also a member of the House of Lippe and Princess consort of Schaumburg-Lippe.
George I, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont was Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont from 1812 to 1813.
Arolsen Castle is a baroque-style schloss in Bad Arolsen, Hesse, Germany. The castle is now a museum, and is still inhabited by Wittekind, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and his family.
Calenberg Castle was a medieval lowland castle in central Germany, near Schulenburg in the borough of Pattensen, 13 km west of the city of Hildesheim. It was built as a water castle in 1292 by the Welf duke, Otto the Strict, in der Leine river meadows between 2 branches of the Leine river on the southern part of the chalk marl hill of the Calenberg. At the start of the 16th century it was converted into a fort (Feste). In the 15th century, Fort Calenberg gave its name to the Welf Principality of Calenberg. Following the Thirty Years' War it lost its military importance and was slighted. Today it is a ruin with underground vaults that are surrounded by high ramparts.
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Count Simon VI of Lippe was an imperial count and ruler of the County of Lippe from 1563 until his death.
Count Christian of Waldeck-Wildungen, German: Christian Graf von Waldeck-Wildungen, official titles: Graf zu Waldeck und Pyrmont, was since 1588 Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg and after the division with his brother in 1607 Count of Waldeck-Wildungen. He founded the new cadet branch of Waldeck-Wildungen and is the progenitor of the princes of Waldeck and Pyrmont.
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Spangenberg Castle is a schloss above the small German town of Spangenberg in the North Hesse county of Schwalm-Eder-Kreis. The originally Gothic building was first a medieval fortified castle, then a fortress, hunting lodge, prison, forestry school and is now a hotel and restaurant.
Friedenstein Palace is an early Baroque palace built in the mid-17th century by Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha at Gotha, Thuringia, Germany. In Germany, Friedenstein was one of the largest palaces of its time and one of the first Baroque palaces ever built. Friedenstein served as the main seat of the Dukes of Saxe-Gotha and later as one of the residences of the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, closely linked with the Royal Family of Great Britain through the marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The final two ruling Dukes were both princes of the United Kingdom.
Schloss Wolfenbüttel is a castle in Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, Germany. An extensive four-wing complex, it originated as a moated castle (Wasserburg). It is the second-largest surviving schloss in Lower Saxony and served as the main residence of the rulers of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1432 to 1753. It now houses a gymnasium secondary school, the Federal Academy of Arts Education, and a museum with its historic rooms on display. Its immediate vicinity is home to several historically significant buildings including the Herzog August Bibliothek, the Lessinghaus, the Zeughaus, and the Kleines Schloss.
