Hotel
CastleStargard
Stargard Castle
Burg Stargard in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is considered Germany's northernmost preserved hilltop castle and the oldest secular building in the region. Its keep shapes the cityscape of Stargard. Today, it houses a hotel.
History+
The castle hill was already settled before 3000 BC. Slavic tribes, arriving in the area during the Migration Period, found remnants of an old fortification there and named the place "Stari Gard". From the 12th century, Christian princes began to settle the area. In 1236, Duke Wartislaw III of Pomerania ceded the Stargard region to the Ascani margraves Johann I and Otto III of Brandenburg, who then began construction of Burg Stargard. The town of Stargard received town rights in 1259. Through marriage, the dominion of Stargard passed to the Mecklenburgers in 1292. From 1352, the castle served as the residence of Duke Johann I of Mecklenburg-Stargard. After the extinction of this line, the duchy reverted to the House of Mecklenburg in 1471. Duke Albrecht VI had the castle rebuilt around 1520, including the creation of a castle chapel in the former gatehouse.
Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burg_Stargard_Altes_Tor_und_M%C3%BCnzpr%C3%A4gerei.jpg
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 53.4900, 13.3049