115:, about 150 metres across. Today just a section of it remains, about 60 metres long, 20 metres wide and 3 metres high. It is covered with tall trees and lies north of the road. The rampart is likely to have originally been a wood and earth construction about 4 metres in height. There are no longer any ruins within the rampart; they were probably carted away in the 17th century to be used for the construction of Ahlden Castle. From the plan it appears not to have been a typical
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As a result of plans to build a road through the middle of the castle site, archaeological excavations took place in 1976 and 1982. These uncovered moats and a post hole. The pottery that was discovered was dated to the 13th and 14th century. Inside the rampart shards of pottery from the 9th to the
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In 1700, long after the demise of
Bunkenburg, a brewery was built on the southern section of the rampart by the prince's household. Not privatised until the 19th century it served as a drinks business until the middle of the 20th century. Today it is a private residence.
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in north
Germany. Only a section of the rampart, roughly 60 metres long and 3 metres high, exists today. The name of the castle is probably derived from the material,
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166:. Bunkenburg was built on the state border and secured the water route of the Aller. In 1431 Ahlden was captured by the Dukes of Lüneburg.
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1747 plan of the circular fort on the old branch of the river Leine. In red is the prince's brewery built around 1700 on the rampart
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11th century were also found along with evidence of a storage building. This could have been related to Old Ahlden (
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142:) recorded in 1295, which fell into ruin and whose remains may later have been used to build the castle ramparts.
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199:, there is a number of other medieval castles, some of similar design. These fortifications include those in
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The emergence of the castle needs to be seen in connexion with the westward expansion of the rule of the
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The castle lay on the northern river bank of the Aller on a flat elevation by an important
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Burgen im Fluss, Herausgeber: Landkreis Soltau-Fallingbostel, Bad
Fallingbostel, 2005,
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The castle receives only scant mention in the surviving records. In 1310 low-ranking
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from the area were mentioned in connexion with it, including those from Ahlden. The
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in the 14th century. At that time Ahlden was the part of the estate of the
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crossing. The river has changed its course over the centuries becoming the
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was a castle built during the 13th and 14th centuries in the shape of a
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castle, where their family names are to be found again in the records.
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of the Aller. Since the 1980s it has been bisected by a state road.
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View from the rampart towards Ahlden and the Leine river branch
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Old brewery on the castle rampart, today a residential home
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and today forms the branch known as the Old Leine (
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195:Within the neighbourhood, in the valley of the
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177:, Johann von Escherde, is named as the
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246:Geschichte des Fleckens Ahlden an der
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111:The castle site consists of an
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35:located on the banks of the
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160:Principality of Lüneburg
307:Castles in Lower Saxony
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322:Hill forts in Germany
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87:) and the village of
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283:52.76149°N 9.55867°E
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233:Blankenhagen Castle
164:Bishopric of Minden
244:Rainer Hendricks:
213:Blankenburg Castle
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288:52.76149; 9.55867
77:Altarm Alte Leine
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20:Section of the
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93:glacial valley
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113:oval rampart
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81:Ahlden House
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133:Excavations
99:Description
73:River Leine
301:Categories
271:52°45′41″N
239:Literature
217:Hodenhagen
171:Burgmannen
140:Alt Ahlden
122:burgmannen
29:Bunkenburg
274:9°33′31″E
209:Uhlenburg
39:opposite
180:Burgvogt
69:medieval
55:Location
45:bog iron
229:Grethem
225:Rethem
146:History
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201:Bierde
185:Rethem
175:knight
89:Ahlden
41:Ahlden
248:Aller
205:Essel
197:Aller
49:Bunke
37:Aller
256:ISBN
227:and
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