Marienburg in Hanover: The real drama of “Maxton Hall”

It is considered a prestigious college where money, status and vanity reign supreme – an unexpected love drama between the wealthy James Beaufort and Ruby Bell, who comes from a humble background, provides the necessary tension. The Amazon Prime hit series “Maxton Hall” quickly found its way into the hearts of viewers and to the top of the streaming charts.

This is not least due to the setting. The fictional Maxton Hall College – which is located in the United Kingdom in the series – is actually Marienburg Castle in Hanover. In reality, however, the romance and glamour of the wealthy students is missing – a completely different drama is currently taking place behind the castle walls.

In the real world, there is a fierce dispute over Marienburg Castle, which King George V of Hanover allegedly had built for his wife Marie. The castle is currently in a very poor condition, with the attic in particular being infested with dry rot, a wood-destroying fungus.

As “Spiegel” reports, the renovation will probably be much more expensive than originally planned. There are three options for the repair, the most expensive of which costs 40 million euros, which is far above the original budget. The start of the renovation work is therefore constantly being delayed and is now not expected to start until 2026 at the earliest.

A key player in this dispute is Falko Mohrs, Lower Saxony's Minister for Science and Culture. He is part of the foundation that took over the castle in 2020 for a symbolic euro. But the cooperation between the ministry and the foundation is poor. There are repeated conflicts about money, administration and the future of the castle. Several board members of the foundation have already given up because of these difficulties.

Another point of contention is the filming of “Maxton Hall”. The series is very successful worldwide and has made the castle internationally famous. Sounds positive, but causes further problems. The State Museum feared that the old paintings in the castle would be damaged and therefore professional supervision was required. They restored several paintings at the same time – which is not cheap. However, the State Museum and the foundation still do not agree on who should bear the costs.

Despite the conflicts, a fan event was held on the castle grounds in July and quickly sold out. But here too, access to some rooms was restricted due to security concerns and the poor condition of the castle. Nevertheless, fans from all over the world are keen to visit the filming location of the teen drama.

The hype was so great that at the start of filming for the second season, security had to prevent fans from making their way through the forest to the film set. The international interest in Marienburg does not make the situation any easier for those responsible.

First, filming had to be significantly restricted or postponed. However, thanks to a few “minor measures,” production for the second season was able to start in June.