DEUTSCHLAND	GERMANY
Bundesland: Niedersachsen	Lower Saxony
Landkreis: Northeim

map →

Nörten-Hardenberg is situated at an elevation of 159 m on the river Leine about 10 km north of Göttingen in Lower Saxony. The municipality has a population of about 8,100 (2012).

Nörten was first mentioned in a document dating from 995. In 1095 it became the seat of an archdeacon for the archbishopric of Mainz and Nörten thus became the administrative centre of the local area. In 1303 the domains came in possession of the Hardenberg family which also obtained the castle in 1357. In 1360 Nörten obtained the statuts of a town. In 1744 the archbishop of Mainz finally recognised the rights of the counts of Hardenberg. In 1851/1852 Nörten became part of the kingdom of Hannover. In 1854 the town was connected to the railroad system (Hannoversche Südbahn). In 1928/1929 the Hardenberg domain, which until had been administered separately, was incorporated into the municipality, which at the same time was renamed Nörten-Hardenberg. The neighbouring community of Elvese was incorporated into the municipality in 1971; Angerstein, Bishausen, Lütgenrode, Parensen, Sudershausen and Wolbrechtshausen followed in 1974. [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/N&6403;rten-Hardenberg]

Schloss Hardenberg [top picture] was built in 1709–1710 as new residence of the counts of Hardenberg. The manor house is still in possession of the family. [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Hardenberg_(Nörten-Hardenberg)]

Burg Hardenberg [bottom picture] is the ruins of the former castle on the summit of a steep cliff. The castle had been founded by the archbishops of Mainz and was first mentioned around 1101. In 1287 it came in possession of the lords of Novalis who from then on used the name lords of Hardenberg. In the 14th century, the family became divisioned into two lines, resulting in the formal partinioning of the line in 1403/1409; each of the two lines resided in a separate part of the castle (Vorderhaus and Hinterhaus). Castle Vorderhaus was destroyed during a storm in 1698, upon which the Hardenberg-Vorderhaus family relocated first to Göttingen and then, in 1710, to the newly built manor Schloss Hardenberg (see above). The Hardenberg-Hinterhaus family left the castle in 1720. The remainders of the castle were renovated in 1840 and some additions in Gothic revival style were added. Further renovateions followed in 1962. [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Hardenberg_(Nörten-Hardenberg)]

Well-known members of the Hardenberg family are:
Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg, a.k.a. Novalis (1772–1801), important poet of the early Romanticism period in Germany.
Karl August Freiherr von Hardenberg (1750–1822), Prussian statesman and Prime Minister; 1814 styled Prince of Hardenberg.
Carl-Hans Graf von Hardenberg (1891–1958), member of the anti-Nazi resistance movement.