Ulferts Börg Castle

Ulferts Börg is a high medieval castle in Upgant-Schott, part of the Samtgemeinde Brookmerland, in the Aurich district of Lower Saxony. It is one of the oldest stone houses in East Frisia.

The castle is located on the southeast side of the East Frisian village, adjacent to a nature reserve.

In the historic Brookmerland, medieval castles are rare. The reason for this lies in the Brokmer Willküren, according to which no Frisian was allowed to erect a stone house over 12 m high or a surrounding moat. Only after this legal code lost its significance did local chieftain families begin to build multi-story residential towers of brick. The oldest parts of Ulferts Börg were built around 1430. This includes the approximately 15-meter-wide front house, whose outer walls are between 0.55 and 0.72 meters thick. A bricked-up loophole in the west gable still bears witness to its original function as a defensive structure. After the rise of the Cirksena, the local nobility in East Frisia steadily lost importance and eventually merged into the wealthy farming class. Thus, the castle was adapted over time to new needs. Around 1700, an agricultural section in Gulfhof construction was added to the stone house.

The castle, enlarged multiple times by additions, increasingly resembled a small palace. The Baroque portal created in the 18th century is worth seeing. Shortly after 1700, an agricultural section in Gulfhof construction was added to the core building of Ulferts Börg. In the 18th century, the estate was expanded with a large entrance hall featuring a Baroque portal. The coats of arms of the former owners, the ter Braeck and von Briesen families, were embedded in it. Today, the building complex consists of the old two-story, transversely positioned front house, a middle house built at a right angle behind it, and an adjoining barn, and is used for agricultural operations and as guest accommodation.