The Hardenberg Castle and Hardenberg Palace are located close to each other and belong to the noble Hardenberg family.
At the approach to the mountain, the first thing that the visitors see is a 300-year-old distillery. Its most famous products are strong drinks Korn (32 %)/Doppelkorn (37.5%) and herbal liqueur "Schwarzhog" (black boar), produced by the 11th-century recipe. The name is not accidental, as the wild boar became a symbol of the family; a long time ago its squeal saved the sleeping castle from night capture.
The castle was founded by the Archbishop of Mainz in 1101, but received its current look later, when it was owned by the Hardenberg family, which got the castle in the 13th century. It is located in a pretty interesting place, standing on a tall rock, which doesn't seem very reliable.
Inner grounds of the castle can be visited only on Sundays and holidays at 11:30 am. The reason, I believe, is that the castle is too old and it's too dangerous to let the visitors inside without a guide. But you can freely walk around the walls.
On the south side of the castle ruins there's a five-star hotel Burghotel Hardenberg, which is located in the former estate of Count Hardenberg. The best photos of the castle can be shoot from the road that runs in front the hotel.
In the late 17th century the castle was badly damaged due to the storm and lightning strikes. The count's family had moved to Goettingen and lived there until 1710, when construction of the palace not far from the castle was completed.
There's a fairly large landscaped park near the palace, which you visit through the gate near the distillery. But it's impossible to approach the palace itself as it privately owned. Descendants of a noble family live there, specifically Carl Albrecht Jost Graf von Hardenberg, who owns everything that is described in this article. He has a twin brother Ferdinand. Noble titles in Germany were abolished 100 years ago, so now "graf" or "count" is a prefix to the name.
He's a big fan of golf and horses, and every year in late June he holds the Burgturnier horse riding contest. The world-class racecourse is located near the hotel. And every winter a huge public skating rink appears in the park, so we should come here again :)
Tours around the factory and castle are possible only on Sundays and holidays. Enroll in a restaurant near the boar sculpture. Castle 11:30 am - 12:30 pm (4.8 euros), factory 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm (4.8 euros).
2016
As planned, we visited the ice rink in the winter. It works during the Christmas holidays, till the end of January, check the dates on the official website. Rink is located almost in the woods which is quite unusual. There are rental skates, mulled wine, etc.
Getting there: Take the train to the Nörten-Hardenberg station, which is located between Hannover and Göttingen, use bahn.de. Then walk 1.2 km up to the castle. The castle can be seen from the train, so you won't get lost.
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