Gifhorn

Gifhorn grew in the lowlands north of Brunswick, where the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg built a new moated castle from 1525. Its walls and buildings formed a Renaissance residence as well as a fortified seat. Duke Ernest and his court took refuge here from an epidemic in 1529. In 1539 Gifhorn became the residence of his brother Duke Francis, who commissioned further buildings for his household. The small Duchy of Gifhorn lasted only about a decade, but its castle remained a prominent reminder of the princely court that had briefly lived here.