Dannenberg Castle

A Slavic ring fort is suspected as a precursor. The first castle complex on a sand island in a Jeetzel river loop was built by Volrad I of Dannenberg on behalf of Duke Henry the Lion and was first documented in 1153. Around 1200, under Count Henry I, the keep, now known as the Waldemarturm, was erected. This tower served as a prison for the Danish King Waldemar II and his son between 1223 and 1224. The line of the Counts of Dannenberg ended in 1303 when Count Nikolaus ceded his rights to Otto the Strict of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In the Lüneburg War of Succession (1370–1389), the castle was defended by Knight Silvert von Saldern in 1375 and surrendered in 1377 after a siege. After the war, it remained in the possession of the Welfs. Duke Henry of Brunswick-Lüneburg had a residential palace built on the site of the medieval castle starting in 1569, which was further expanded by his sons Julius Ernst and August.