Süpplingenburg is a municipality of 700 inhabitants (2003) in the district of Helmstedt

Helmstedt (district)

Helmstedt is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the district of Wolfenbüttel, the City of Braunschweig, the District of Gifhorn, the City of Wolfsburg and the State of Saxony-Anhalt .-Geography:The district is bounded by the Elm in the west and the Lappwald in the east...

, 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...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It is part of the collective municipality (Samtgemeinde) of Nord-Elm

Nord-Elm

Nord-Elm is a federation of municipalities in Helmstedt, Lower Saxony. It is named after the Elm, on the northern edge of which it is located. Nord-Elm has an area of 63 km² and a population of 6,200 ; its capital is Süpplingen. It was founded in 1969.Member...

.
The village developed next to a 10th century water castle

Water castle

A water castle is a castle or stately home whose site is entirely surrounded by moats or natural waterbodies. Topographically water castles are a type of lowland castle.There is a further distinction between:...

 at the Schunter

Schunter

The Schunter is a river in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a length of 58 km, right tributary of the Oker. It originates in the Elm hills near Räbke west of Helmstedt, flows northward to Süpplingenburg, then turns westward and joins the Oker at Schwülper, downstream of Braunschweig...

 river, probably erected by the Counts of Haldensleben

Haldensleben

Haldensleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Ohre river, approx. 30 km northwest from Magdeburg. It is connected by railway to Magdeburg, Oebisfelde and Eilsleben. It is the capital of the district Börde. It has a Protestant and a Catholic church. An old equestrian...

 who then held the office of margrave

Margrave

A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...

s of the Northern March

Northern March

The Northern March or North March was created out of the division of the vast Marca Geronis in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the Marca and was part of the territorial organisation of areas conquered from the Wends...

. Gertrud von Haldensleben's daughter, Hedwig of Formbach, married Count Gebhard of Supplinburg. Until 1173 the castle was the seat of the Counts of Supplinburg, among them Gebhard's son Emperor Lothair III of Supplinburg

Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor

Lothair III of Supplinburg , was Duke of Saxony , King of Germany , and Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 to 1137. The son of Count Gebhard of Supplinburg, his reign was troubled by the constant intriguing of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia and Duke Conrad of Franconia...

.

Lothair had a collegiate church

Collegiate church

In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...

 and cloister

Cloister

A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...

 built within the Supplinburg palace about 1130. In 1173 his grandson Henry the Lion

Henry the Lion

Henry the Lion was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and Duke of Bavaria, as Henry XII, from 1156, which duchies he held until 1180....

 granted Süpplingenburg to the Knights Templar

Knights Templar

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...

 order, from which it fell to the Knights Hospitaller

Knights Hospitaller

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...

 in 1357. It remained a commandry

Commandry (feudalism)

Commandry , or commandery , was the smallest division of the European landed estate or manor under the control of a commendator, or commander, of an order of knights...

 (Komtur

Komtur

Komtur was a rank within military orders, especially the Teutonic Knights. In the State of the Teutonic Order, the Komtur was the commander of a basic administrative division called Kommende . A Komtur was responsible for the alimentation of the Knights by the yield from the local estates, he...

ei) of the Order of Saint John until in 1820 it was finally mediatised to the Duchy of Brunswick

Duchy of Brunswick

Brunswick was a historical state in Germany. Originally the territory of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in the Holy Roman Empire, it was established as an independent duchy by the Congress of Vienna in 1815...

. The castle was demolished about 1875, while the St John

John the Baptist

John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...

 Church survived, today a stop at the scenic Romanesque Road.

Transportation

Süpplingenburg can be reached via the Bundesstraße 1

Bundesstraße 1

The Bundesstraße 1 or B1 is a German federal highway running in an east-west direction from the Dutch border near Aachen to the Polish border at Küstrin-Kietz on the Oder River.-Route description:...

 federal highway at Süpplingen

Süpplingen

Süpplingen is a municipality in the district of Helmstedt, in Lower Saxony, Germany....

 or the Bundesautobahn 2 at the Rennau

Rennau

Rennau is a municipality in the district of Helmstedt, in Lower Saxony, Germany....

 junction. Train service of the Brunswick

Braunschweig

Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....

-Magdeburg

Magdeburg

Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....

 railway line is available at Helmstedt

Helmstedt

Helmstedt is a city located at the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. Helmstedt has 26,000 inhabitants . In former times the city was also called Helmstädt....

.