Herzberg am Harz

Herzberg lies at the southern edge of the Harz beneath a castle that served the Welf dukes as a residence for almost four centuries. A devastating fire destroyed the castle in 1510, after which it was rebuilt. Duke George of Brunswick-Lüneburg lived there with his family until 1635, and his son Ernest Augustus, later the first elector of Hanover, was born here in 1629. The castle ceased to be a princely residence in 1714, the year Ernest Augustus's son George became king of Great Britain and Ireland.