Perhaps the home looked like this. Today from this castle nothing is left and nothing can be seen of it. Anyone, who takes the effort to climb the "Alter Hagen", which is nearly completely covered by trees and bushes, finds the following chart:

 

Die Burg zu Padberg / The Castle of Padberg  Erected in the style of a saxonian “top of the mountain castle” before AD 1100, approximately between 1080 and 1100.
June 1, 1030	Earliest known charter, which names the property of Padberg and its owner Graf (count) Bernhard
1120	Earliest known charter which mentions the castle: Possession and castle are sold by Beatrix, widow of Count Erpo von Padberg, to the Archbishop of Cologne, Friedrich I.
1165	First seal of the feudal lords, which shows the typical elements in the coat of arms.
March 12, 1263	The feudal lords Johann and Gottschalk von Padberg  bestow the municipal rights to their citizens. These rights were renewed several times in the following centuries; the “Ring of Padberg” (the City) had his own church (St. Peter - mentioned the first time in 1057), which is not identical to the chapel within the walls of the castle.
1330	We know from the history, that the patron saint of the chapel in the castle was named for St. Adelgundis and it was with a lot of indulgences. Today the flat area in the north east of the former castle is known as the “Kapellenplatz” (place of the chapel).
Middle of 13th Century	The castle of Padberg was meant to be impregnable: it gets the title of “being one of the four columns of the Archbishopric of Cologne”, which lasted to the end of the 14th Century.
End of 14th – middle of 15th century	The Padberg family knights change to robber knights, caused by economical distress.
March 1516	The infamous Goetz von Berlichingen stays for three days as a guest of the Knights von Padberg at the castle.
April 1516	Starting from the castle, Goetz attacks Count Philipp II von Waldeck in Dahlheim, taking prisoner and only setting him free a long time later after receiving a high ransom. (From that money he bought the castle Jagsthausen, which still is owned by the Berlichingen family.)
March 27, 1576	In the “Salentin’s Rezess” it is stated, that the castle isn’t a fortress any longer. The knights von Padberg remain under obligation to the Archbishop of Cologne to be able to ready the castle for defense in war times.
About 1600	The castle is not fit to live in any longer for the people. The Knights already have moved into the inner city of the “Ring Padberg”.
17th Century	The deterioration of the castle continues. In the Thirty-years-war (1618-1648) the outer walls are used as rampart for musketeers. Otherwise the castle becomes a quarry from which the Padbergs take stones for their houses.
Through all the centuries the Padberg castle was strong against attacks and siege by troops coming from Paderborn, Waldeck and Hessia. Against the “Tooth of Time” it couldn’t resist.

The old church St. Peter in Padberg

Located at the border between plant covered hill “Alter Hagen” and the village of today you will find the church St. Peter, which actually is under re-construction.

 

view outside	view inside

In AD 1030 Emperor Konrad III donated the “Praedium Padberg” (praedium: latin for property) to Mainwerk, Bishop of Paderborn. In 1057 the oldest part of romanic style already was built, which was enlarged later and gothic windows were added. The giant column in the middle of the church is a remaining part of the original exterior wall. There are still slots for the heavy bar next to the door, which was designed with thick iron nails. This reminds one that the church also had a function for defense and in war times it could be locked from the inside.

The old church originally is dedicated to St. Peter. In the year 1264 a priest, called Gottfried, is mentioned in documents. In later times that priest, also had to hold services in Beringhausen, a neighbor village where he lived. But during the week before Easter and at all other important holidays of the church, he had to hold services in the Padberg parish church only. In 1670 the church got its altar of baroque style, made by sculptor family Pape, living near Giershagen, which also designed the other altar, called St. Mary’s altar, in 1736. Both altars actually are located in the new church, including the 1670 baptism stone.

 

The baptism stone in the church of St. Maria Magdalena

Also the oldest three bells, the biggest engraved with the year 1684, are in the new church. The figure of Our Lady and two praying angels were installed in the places where the former altars stood. They also were made in the workshop of the Pape family. In front of the altars originally there were iron grave plates carrying coats of arms and inscriptions from members of the von Padberg family. Unfortunately only two plates from the years of 1557 and 1585 remain, which today are located below the so called “Grafenempore” (Count’s gallery).

Since the new church was built in the city, today there are services in the old church only on special occasions including processions. The church St. Peters is of declared historical significance. In 1965 under control of the Denkmalamt (Office for Historical Significance) and the Archdiocese of Paderborn an enlarged renovation was supported, during which fragments of frescos were found. Their origin is possibly of the 13^th Century.

The new church of St. Maria Magdalena in Padberg

 

The actual Parish church of the “Ring Padberg” is dedicated to St. Maria Magdalena. It was built in 1912/13 and was consecrated by Bishop – later Cardinal – Schulte.

The architectural style is Baroque in accordance to the baroque altars, which were taken from the old church. The high altar containing the picture “Adoration by the Shepherds” as well as the rich ornamented columns, which were made of alabaster, were produced of the sculptor workshop of Heinrich Pape from Giershagen. The figures of the St. Maria Magdalena and the St. Margareta are sculpted from sandstone. Above the altar’s picture are located the coats of arms from the donators Ludwig-Friedrich von Padberg and Anna-Ursula von Schilder. The inscription says that the altar was erected May 2, 1670 for the honor and glory of Our Lady. The altar to the left, also created in the Pape factory with the relief of alabaster showing St. Mary and the sandstone sculptors of St. Agatha and St. Antonius are from 1736. The baptism stone dates 1670 and had its first place in the old church. From 1973 to 1975 the church was renovated. By that the function of several pieces from the interior became changed. Parts of the communion bank now are the base of the altar for the celebration and one other part became an ornament of the candleholder in front of the St. Mary’s altar. From four wooden carved pictures, which were parts of the late chancel, two are next to the entrance to the stairways leading to the gallery with the organ, one is in the reading table and the fourth is in the confessional room, which is the left sacristy.

To the parish belongs the community of Helminghausen, which has a “separate trust” for that community. In 1906/07 a chapel was built there. Until 1927 Padberg parish, while it still was independent, shared with the neighbor community Beringhausen one priest. After the separation, when the common trust of the parish became divided, the priest stayed in Berinhausen and Padberg got a substitute for the pastoral duties. The “Ring Padberg”, today a suburb of the city Marsberg, is mentioned in documents as a city since 1204. There is a charter from the year of 1263, in which the Knight Johann von Padberg confirms the municipal rights. The old market place, today named “Am Pumpenstein” gives an evidence of the former trade activities. There were four markets every year, which Elector Clemens August from Cologne confirmed in 1747. After the changes of 1803, when the ruling leadership for the duchy Westfalia came to the duchy of Hessen-Darmstadt, these rights for the markets were not confirmed any longer. The patrimonial court of Padberg (Patrimonialgericht) lasted until 1849. The old lime tree outside the garden from the priest’s home testifies to the presence summary justice. The “St. Jordanusstrasse” (St. Jordanus’s Street) is in memory to Jordanus von Padberg. He became General of the Order of the Dominicans as a successor of St. Dominic in 1222, was teacher of St. Albertus Magnus and died in 1237.

 

The entry of St. Maria Magdalena

back to footprints