Stargard Castle
The 13th century castle,[1][2][3][4] standing on a 90 m hill, and the eponymous small town in the valley below lie several kilometers southeast of Neubrandenburg, in the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
When Slavic tribes advanced into the area during the Migration Period, they encountered remnants of an ancient fortification or settlement and thus called the place Stari Gard (Pomeranian: old castle).
In 1237, Duke Wartislaw III of Pomerania, ceded the so-called "country of Stargard" (German: Stargarder Land, Latin: terra stargardiensis) to the Ascanian Margraves of Brandenburg, John I and Otto III, by the treaty of Kremmen.
The reign of Albert VII saw the significant modification and expansion of the castle in 1520, e.g. the gatehouse was remodeled into a chapel.
During the Thirty Years' War, Stargard served as headquarters of General Tilly during the siege and capture of the nearby city of Neubrandenburg, but was heavily damaged itself during this time.
Even after becoming part of the newly created duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1701, the castle remained the seat of the local magistrate, as it had been for centuries.
After surviving World War II without destruction, the castle's premises were used for educational purposes until 1963, then as a youth hostel till 1990.
In its lower parts, the walls are more than 4 m thick and have a circumference of 27 m. The entry is 9 m above ground and was accessed via a roofed wooden stairway (today a simple one out of metal).
Grand Duke George entrusted F. W. Buttel, a student of the Prussian classicist architect Schinkel, with restoring and remodeling it into a viewing tower from 1821 to 1823.
The large building complex (German: Krummes Haus) in the inner bailey traditionally housed the magistrate's offices.
It has remained a ruin ever since, although part of it received a tentative roof and floor for hosting cultural events in the 1990s.
Finally, in 1520, the drawbridge was dismantled, the gateway and the middle window were connected and then bricked up, and the building was refurnished as a chapel.
