Prinzensteine

The year is 1388: Lower Saxony fights Lower Saxony in a fratricidal battle on May 28. Who should Winsen belong to? The Guelph dynasty or the Saxon dukes? Mortally wounded, one of the brothers loses his helmet and only now do the brothers recognize each other.

On a country lane between Südwinsen and Oldau, there are now two memorials of a rare kind, the Prinzensteine. They tell of the murderous battle at Winsen. Duke Henry of Celle and his allies were victorious. Popular legend has it that two brothers, princely princes who served in one of the armies, faced each other there.

The battle between the two brave knights was fierce and they were ultimately mortally wounded. Only now did the brothers, who had once loved each other dearly, recognize each other. The dying men were found with their hands clasped tightly together. The stones are said to have been placed in memory of this fraternal battle. They protrude only slightly from the ground.

One stone shows a raised bear claw, the other a carved lily.

These were the coats of arms of the Hoyear counts and the Brunswick city knights. In order to protect the two already heavily weathered stones, four high stones were erected around them in the summer of 1906 at the instigation of the Winsen (Aller) War Association, which were connected by chains.