Blankenburg Castle was a small castle in the village of Engehausen in the municipality of Essel

Essel

Essel is a municipality in the Heidekreis district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Most of the village is located on the southern bank of the river Aller. The A 7 motorway runs through the village.-Subdivisions:The municipality of Essel comprises 4 subdivisions:...

 in the German state of Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...

. It dates roughly to the 13th century. All that remains are parts of the surrounding rampart. Today a rural farmstead, formerly a manor house, stands on the site of the old castle.

The castle was built on the north bank of the river Aller

Aller

The Aller is a river, long, in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony in Germany. It is a right-hand, and hence eastern, tributary of the River Weser and is also its largest tributary. Its last form the Lower Aller federal waterway...

 above the flood plain. Today it lies on a silted-up branch of the old river. The ruins of a rampart can still be seen on the southeastern side of the former castle site; the opposite side of the embankment had been levelled around 1900. The extent of the castle has been estimated at 50 x 50 m. Today an old farmhouse stands in the middle of the site. At the beginning of the 20th century the foundations and parts of a vault were reported to have been found.

The castle was attributed to the Lords of Blankena or Blankenhagen

Blankenhagen

Blankenhagen is a municipality in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....

, who were mentioned in the middle of the 13th century in the records in connexion with the Hodenhagen Castle

Hodenhagen Castle

Hodenhagen Castle is the site of a former lowland castle built in the 13th century in the vicinity of Hodenhagen in the German state of Lower Saxony...

. Their line must have soon died out however.

Similar fortified sites in the vicinity

In the local area there is a number of other medieval castles in the valley of the Aller

Aller

The Aller is a river, long, in the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony in Germany. It is a right-hand, and hence eastern, tributary of the River Weser and is also its largest tributary. Its last form the Lower Aller federal waterway...

. These include fortifications in Bierde

Bierde

Bierde is a village in the municipality of Böhme, Lower Saxony, that is part of Heidekreis district in the German state of Lower Saxony.- Bierder Burg :...

, Ahlden (Bunkenburg

Bunkenburg

Bunkenburg was a castle built during the 13th and 14th centuries in the shape of a circular fort located on the banks of the River Aller opposite Ahlden in north Germany. Only a section of the rampart, roughly 60 metres long and 3 metres high, exists today...

), Essel

Essel

Essel is a municipality in the Heidekreis district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Most of the village is located on the southern bank of the river Aller. The A 7 motorway runs through the village.-Subdivisions:The municipality of Essel comprises 4 subdivisions:...

 (Uhlenburg

Uhlenburg

Uhlenburg is the site of a lowland castle that was built in the 14th century close to the River Aller near Essel in the German state of Lower Saxony...

), Rethem, Hodenhagen

Hodenhagen

Hodenhagen is a municipality in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town was once the site of Hudemühlen Castle, which is now completely destroyed. The castle was famous as the home of the kobold Hinzelmann. The site of another medieval castle, Hodenhagen Castle on the River...

 (Hodenhagen Castle

Hodenhagen Castle

Hodenhagen Castle is the site of a former lowland castle built in the 13th century in the vicinity of Hodenhagen in the German state of Lower Saxony...

) and Grethem

Grethem

Grethem is a municipality in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany....

 (Blankenhagen Castle

Blankenhagen Castle

Blankenhagen Castle was a lowland castle , whose ruins are located by the River Aller near Grethem in Lower Saxony, Germany. The motte-and-bailey castle is believed to have been built around 1200...

).

Source

• Heine, Dr Hans Wilhelm and others, Burgen im Fluss, Landkreis Soltau-Fallingbostel, Bad Fallingbostel, 2005, ISBN 3-00-017281-5