Königsburg is a ruined medieval castle southeast of Königshütte

Königshütte (Harz)

Since 1 January 2004 Königshütte has been a village in the borough of Oberharz am Brocken in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.- Location :...

, a village in the borough of Oberharz am Brocken

Oberharz am Brocken

Oberharz am Brocken is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was formed on 1 January 2010 by the merger of the former municipalities:Benneckenstein,Elbingerode,Elend,Hasselfelde,Königshütte,Rübeland,Sorge,Stiege,Tanne,...

, in Harz district in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...

.

Site

The ruins are located above the confluence of the Warme Bode

Warme Bode

The Warme Bode is the right-hand headstream of the River Bode in the High Harz mountains of central Germany in the states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt...

 and Kalte Bode

Kalte Bode

The Kalte Bode is the left-hand headstream of the River Bode in the High Harz Mountains in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is long.-Name:...

 rivers in the Harz Mountains in central Germany. They lie at a height of 460 metres above sea level on the edge of a wooded plateau and offer a good view of the Wurmberg

Wurmberg

Wurmberg is a town in the district of Enz in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....

 and the Brocken, the highest mountains in 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...

 and the Harz

Harz

The Harz is the highest mountain range in northern Germany and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The name Harz derives from the Middle High German word Hardt or Hart , latinized as Hercynia. The legendary Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz...

 respectively.

History

In 1312 the site is first mentioned in the records as castrum Königshof when Bishop Albrecht von Halberstadt purchased the castle from Knappen Heinrich von Botvelde. In 1324 there is another mention of it as castrum Köningshof acqisivit, then all went quiet until it is described in 1709 for the first time as Königsburg. At that time it had already fallen into ruins.

When Paul Höfer

Paul Hofer

Paul Hofer is a former professional American football player who played running back for six seasons in the NFL. He was a part of the San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl XVI winning team. Known for his hard and relentless running style, Hofer was a fan favorite despite being on poor 49ers teams in the...

 carried out extensive excavations in the years from 1898 to 1901, he assumed he had discovered the long sought after palace (Pfalz) of Bodfeld

Bodfeld

Bodfeld was a small royal palace or lodge that was primarily established for hunting purposes and, when the town of Elbingerode was emerged, for the administration of ore mining in the central Harz that underpinned the power of the Ottonian and Salian kings and emperors in medieval Europe...

 and produced several publications about it, although this has been subsequently questioned by later researchers like Paul Grimm and Carl Erdmann. Even today it is advertised that the Königsburg is one of the most historic places in the Harz.

Layout

Of the original castle only the remains of the keep and several moats and ramparts remain today. It is checkpoint number 41 on the Harzer Wandernadel

Harzer Wandernadel

The Harzer Wandernadel is a network of checkpoints for walkers in the Harz mountains in North Germany. It includes a system whereby the hiker can earn badges at different levels by walking to the various checkpoints in the network and recording them...

hiking trail network.

External links

• Reconstruction drawing by Wolfgang Braun