Gladebeck Manor

Around the year 1318, Gladebeck Water Castle, belonging to the Dukes of Brunswick, most likely already stood. Its exact date of origin is unknown, but in that year, Heidenreich, known as Strutz von Gladebeck, was enfeoffed by Duke Otto the Mild of Brunswick with a dominium strate regis in villa Glatteke. It can therefore be assumed that a fortification for the protection of the road already existed. The first reliable mention of the castle dates back to 1447, when Duke Otto II of Brunswick enfeoffed Gottschalk von Plesse with dat slott to Gladebeck, including the vogtei, court, and all appurtenances. However, as early as 1435, the Plessers are said to have already leased the castle to the Lords of Uslar for 900 Rhenish guilders, and likewise in 1442 to Werner von Stockheim for 700 Rhenish guilders. However, sources for the early enfeoffments by the Plessers are missing. Due to a feud, the castle was destroyed by the Göttingers in 1467 and attacked again in 1553. From the mid-16th century, the gradual decay of the castle began; an enfeoffment by Duke Erich of Brunswick-Calenberg to the Lords of Plesse only mentioned 6 hides belonging to the castle as its area. In 1616, the castle was a ruin, although some remaining buildings, such as the Moshaus, outwork, and a barn, still existed, but just 20 years later, nothing was left of these buildings either. The castle was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War, and a manor was built in its place, which was owned by the Bodemeyer family from the 17th century until 1849. In 1860, the municipality of Gladeneck acquired the land of the estate; the manor house, built only in 1840, was acquired by the church community and used as a rectory. A remnant of the castle's rampart is still visible on the rectory property. Today, the field name "Auf der Burg" (On the Castle) commemorates the former water castle.