Oberburg Castle

The history of Oberburg Gudensberg dates back at least to 1045, when the Schloßberg served as the seat of the counts in the Hessengau. From 1027, the Swabian Werner family held this office. The castle was first documented in 1121 as "Burg Udensberc," then owned by the Gisonen, who had inherited the county after the death of Werner IV. Giso IV's heiress, Hedwig, married Ludwig I of Thuringia, transferring the county to the Thuringian Ludowinger, often administered by younger brothers of the landgraves as "Counts of Gudensberg." Konrad of Thuringia, one such count, destroyed the city of Fritzlar in 1232, subsequently joined the Teutonic Order, and later became its Grand Master. After the death of the last Ludowingian Landgrave Heinrich Raspe in 1247, the castle passed to the new Hessian landgravial house under Heinrich I. In 1312, the castle was stormed by Heinrich von Waldeck during a feud between Mainz and Hesse. Another feud with Mainz in 1387 led to the destruction of the nearby Wenigenburg, while the Oberburg was successfully defended.