Schloss Neuenburg, Renaissance castle in Zetel, Germany
Schloss Neuenburg is a three-winged castle in Neuenburg, part of the municipality of Zetel. The present complex largely dates from the final years of the 17th century, after older parts collapsed and were rebuilt in 1715. Three corner bastions of the former fortifications survive beneath mounds of rubble, and a moat surrounds the site.
Count Gerd of Oldenburg built the fortress in 1462 to defend against East Frisian attacks from neighboring regions. The structure later transformed from a military stronghold into a more comfortable noble residence.
The castle chapel serves the Protestant-Lutheran congregation of Neuenburg today. The building also holds the wedding room, which doubles as the meeting chamber of the Zetel municipal council, and a kindergarten occupies part of the rooms. The name Neuenburg, "new castle", goes back to the 1462 foundation, called Nige Borg in Low German.
The castle houses a bird museum, the Evangelical-Lutheran castle chapel, the wedding room that also serves as the Zetel council chamber, and a kindergarten. The three corner bastions of the former fortification survive under mounds of rubble. The site lies in the Neuenburg district of Zetel, in the Friesland district of Lower Saxony.
Three corner bastions of the former fortress survive beneath mounds of rubble, and Matthäus Merian engraved the bastioned, moated complex around 1640 under the title "Nieuburg oldenburgisch". The rampart itself was levelled in 1757.
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