Bremervörde

Bremervörde grew beside the castle of Vörde, a stronghold and later residence of the archbishops of Bremen. Its position on the Oste made it an important centre in their territory, especially as the archbishops increasingly governed from outside the city of Bremen. The fortified castle was extended under Administrator John Frederick, whose chancery was built in 1608.

The Thirty Years' War brought repeated sieges and damage. After the archbishopric became the secular Duchy of Bremen in 1648, government offices moved to Stade, and the Swedish crown granted the castle to Field Marshal Carl Gustav Wrangel. The move diminished Bremervörde's importance. In 1682 King Charles XI ordered the damaged castle and fortifications demolished; bricks from the ruins were carried to Stade for a Swedish storehouse.