The erection of Duburg Castle was begun during the reign of Queen Margaret I of Denmark in the year 1411. After her death (1412) King Eric of Pomerania continued the construction of the fortress on the hill „Marienberg“ overlooking the city of Flensburg and the church St. Mary. The fortress, measuring about 80 x 60 metres, was secured by walls and towers, surrounded by trenches and earth rampages. Besides accommodation facilities, the castle contained a bakery, a kitchen, and a powder magazine. In order to secure supplies from overseas, the lower part (“Ramsharde”) was fortified by two lines of palisades and trenches, leading from the sea to the castle. Withstanding a siege in 1427, the garrison in 1431 was forced to surrender, following a starvation blockade by the Hanseatic forces of the Holsteinian Count Schauenburg. During the 16. and 17. centuries the castle served as a housing and assembly place for the Danish kings. 1719 the castle was released for demolition purposes out of financial reasons; parts and pieces of the walls were used to build Flensburg’s orphanage Flensborghus, on the grounds Norderstraße 76-78. A few remains survived until approximately 1900. In the years 1928/29 the terrain was covered by the buildings of the educational school Handelslehranstalt.
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