Ehreshoven Castle (German: Schloss Ehreshoven) is a moated castle in Engelskirchen, Oberbergischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the village of Ehreshoven, about 32 kilometres (20 mi) by road east of Cologne. Several kilometres to the northwest is Georghausen Castle.

The castle was originally owned by Siegburg Abbey, which had been founded in 1164 by Archbishop Anno of Cologne. Ehreshoven was first mentioned in 1355 when it existed as a house or small castle. In 1396 it was given to the family of the count of Nesselrode and stayed in their possession until 1920.

Under Wilhelm of Nesselrode, the house was essentially remodelled and the medieval chapel built into the structure in 1595. At the end of the 17th century, Philipp Wilhelm Christoph von Nesselrode and his wife built a new house integrating just the chapel and the northern part of the original castle. The three-winged manor house and the big four-winged front house were built at this time. In the early 18th century, a French garden was installed in the north of the castle which is mainly intact today.

The last owner was Marie Countess of Nesselrode who died unmarried in 1920 and bequeathed the whole estate to the Rheinische Ritterschaft. In 1924, they transformed it into a charitable foundation for Cannonesses. Only parts of the original medieval buildings remain at the rear of the castle of today. The chapel is part of the original buildings incorporated into the present manor house. In 1990, the whole manor house was renovated from the outside and the original building was repainted in a light yellow colour.

In the TV series Verbotene Liebe, the castle was the residence of the fictional Count Johannes von Lahnstein, one of the richest men in Germany.

Ehreshoven Castle

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Gimborn Castle (German: Schloss Gimborn) is a former moated castle situated in a remote valley of the upper Leppe in the municipality of Marienheide in the Oberbergischer Kreis of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Gimborn Castle is a castle in the Gimborn district of the municipality of Marienheide in Oberbergischer Kreis in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Districts neighbouring on Gimborn are Boinghausen in the north, Jedinghausen in the east, Erlinghagen in the south, and Unterlichtinghagen in the west.

This former water castle lies in the upper Leppe valley. It was pledged in 1273 from the county of Berg to the county of Mark, and became the Residenz in the county of Gimborn Neustadt of the House of Schwarzenberg in 1631. Since 1874 the castle has belonged to the Barons von Fürstenberg zu Gimborn.

Since 1969 the Castle has served as a conference site and meeting place for the International Police Association. Once a year, the Castle opens its gates to the Schützenfest of the Gimborn Saint Sebastianus Schützenverein.



Gimborn Castle

Homburg Castle is an old hill castle in Nümbrecht, Oberbergischer Kreis in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Homburg is first mentioned in records of 1276. Gottfried I of Sayn from the House of Sponheim (1247-1283/84) transferred his castrum Homburg to the German King Rudolf of Habsburg, in order to place it under his protection. He received the castle back as an inheritance. The castle was the residence of the Counts of Homburg, an imperial fiefdom (Reichsherrschaft).

From 1635 Count Ernst von Sayn-Wittgenstein altered the castle to its present-day appearance. One hundred years later the line of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg took over its management; the structure then fell into disrepair. Not until 1904 was its decline halted and, in 1926, a museum, founded by Hermann Conrad, took over the premises. Today it is the Museum of Oberbergisches Kreis.

In 1999 during an excavation, a stone keep of about 12.5 metres diameter was uncovered. Experts estimate that it dates to the 11th century. A consequence of this was that the history of the castle had to be reassessed to that time.

At the beginning of 2005 the district council decided to upgrade the castle. Their plans included inter alia the expansion of the 'Red House' (Rotes Haus) and the construction of a central cash desk and toilet area. The old orangery was to be torn down and replaced by a new two-storey administration and exhibition building.

In the immediate vicinity are a sawmill and mill with a bakery. In addition, in the former farmhouse building, the 'Red House', the castle's tithe barn, is the headquarters of the Oberberg Biological Station, whose main fields of work are the scientific and practical support of the Oberberg nature reserves and various landscape conservation projects.

The nature trail was established in 2004. This is a circular walk that was the initiative of the Oberberg Biological Station and German Forest Conservation Society (Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald).

The footpath and nature trail starts at the castle and runs through Homburg Bröl and Huppichteroth, past the historic Holstein Mill and the Dicke Steine back to Homburg Castle. Nine information stations have been set up along the route which describe the natural environment around Homburg Castle and the Bröl meadow to walkers.

The stations are:

Forests around Homburg Castle (Wälder um Schloss Homburg). Here the visitor can learn about the individual types of trees species using viewing boxes.
The Oak (Die Eiche). Here the life of an oak is explained with the help of annular rings, and the height of an oak can be measured.
Cultural Landscape (Kulturlandschaft). The diverse cultural landscape is explored together with the individual habitats using a telescope.
Village Life (Lebensraum Dorf). This explains how man and nature live side-by-side. Several bird calls may be heard here.
Hedge (Hecke). The planting of hedges as well as the life in the hedge is explained using diagrams and a picture board.
Tree-Top Platform (Baumkronen-Plattform). A platform built in the tree tops offers an unusual perspective with information boards that describe life in this part of the wood.
Bröl Meadow (Brölaue). Here the water level and the animal life in the Bröl stream is demonstrated using viewing screens and a rotating wheel.
Dicke Steine. The origin of this natural monument is clearly explained.
Woodpecker Wood (Spechtwald). At this station there is a view of a spotted woodpecker nest.
The Homburg Castle nature trail is about 2.8 km long and the walk generally takes 1.5 to 2 hours.

Homburg Castle

Hückeswagen Castle is the castle of the town of Hückeswagen in the Oberbergische Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

It is first recorded in the year 1189. Today (2005) it accommodates municipal offices and a museum of local history.

The castle Hückeswagen (castrum Hukingiswage) was mentioned for the first time in 1189, the counts by Hückeswagen, however, already in 1138. In 1260 the county Hückeswagen was disposed to the counts Berg, and the Hückeswagener counts moved to Moravia. In the future the castle of the countess Margarete von Hochstaden served as a widow's seat. To constant Verpfändungen of Hückeswagen during the following centuries the name changed in 1397 into castle. During the following centuries the castle was mostly in a bad state, until it reached in 1884 at first partially in the possession of the town. Later the city administration and the home museum were accommodated there. Only in 2005 parts of the city administration were evacuated in the civil centre built in the former central station area on the Etapler place.

One of the most striking components of the arrangement is the donjon which is also called "scoundrel's tower". He was probably established in the first third of the 13th century. The oldest view of the castle of Erich Philipp Ploennies at the beginning of the 18th century shows the tower with 23 metres substantially higher than today. The reduction on two floors occurred at rebuilding and protection work at the beginning of the 19th century.

The castle square is fastened and by vehicles over Marktstrasse which leads immediately by the historical Old Town to reach. A historical well which was redeveloped in 2007 extensively stands on the place enclosed with a wall. Also sidewalks start to the castle: once from Bahnhofstrasse by the so-called Schlosshagen (tree growth with sidewalks) or alternatively over the precipitous street "castle mountain" which branches off from Islandstrasse. The rose garden borders on the castle square oppositely. Striking building there is a historical pavilion. Directly beside the castle stands the Paulus church Hückeswagen. The Steengaden, a rest of the former connection arrangement, is below the castle in Islandstrasse.

Hückeswagen Castle

Schloss Allner is a fifteenth-century castle in Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the southern slope of the Nutscheid Ridge, on the north bank of the River Sieg, and just northeast of the Allner See. It lies to the northeast of the town of Hennef, east of the district of Allner.

During its history it has served as a residence, a municipal seat and an orphanage. During World War II it was the scene of an unsuccessful attempt by the Wehrmacht to halt the advancing Allied forces from crossing the Sieg and entering the Ruhr Valley.

Formerly surrounded by a moat, the buildings of the cross-shaped four-story mansion, with rectangular towers in the front corners, are crowned by a central lantern roof dating back to the mid-17th century. The front entrance has an 18th-century imperial staircase, edged with balustrades made of trachyte, flanking the original round-arched doorway within a rectangular aperture designed to receive a raised drawbridge. On either side of this lower entrance are sandstone escutcheons bearing the Merode family coat of arms. Two octagonal towers flank the great hall.

In the great hall, the two fireplaces are decorated with the Scheiffart family coat of arms. A stone staircase with a carved oak banister leads to the chapel on the second floor of the manor. The basement area contains a kitchen and a wine cellar with 18th century wood paneling and wall cabinets, and a low vaulted ceiling. A round-arched cellar door bears the date 1667 on its keystone and has a carved stone face for the insertion of a deadbolt.

Outside the manor's front doorway is an arched Baroque portal, bearing the Merkelsbach family coat of arms and brackets for a narrow drawbridge. To the west stand two long stone outbuildings with crow-stepped gables, dating to the 16th century, which contain servant's quarters and stables. A third outbuilding was constructed in the 17th century on the castle's north side to serve as the forester's residence.

On the lower grounds near the river a three-story octagonal tower, built in 1550, is located on the 10-meter-high Ashlar curtain wall. Within the wall, to the north of the tower, is a glass-domed 17th century garden house. The castle's main gate consists of a red sandstone archway with a lion mask in the keystone and a marriage coat of arms of Bertram Scheiffart von Merode and Lucie von Hatzfeldt, dated 1643. On a northwest section of the wall is a second marriage escutcheon commemorating the wedding of Johann Wallraff Scheiffart von Merode and Maria Anna von Harff, dated 1668.

The original cruciform structure was built sometime around 1419. It first appears in historical records in 1421, mentioned as being in the possession of Arnold von Merkelsbach, vassal of Stifts Vilich and the bailiff of the Blankenberg Office of the Duchy of Berg.

In 1557 the ownership went by marriage to Wallraff Scheiffart von Merode, also called von Kühlseggen. In 1643, Bertram Scheiffart von Merode expanded the core building of the manor, adding the great hall and the two rear towers. At the end of the 17th century possession went by marriage to Daniel Salentin Spies von Büllesheim. At the end of the 18th century a dispute settlement at the Imperial Chamber Court had the castle and also Schloss Merten and Schloss Schönstein issued to Franz Ludwig von Hatzfeldt (1756-1827). He spent several months at Schloss Allner every year.

His son-in-law, Clemens von Loë (1809-1883) succeeded him as owner of the castle. The Prussian general Field Marshal Walter von Loë (1828-1908) was born on September 9, 1828, in Schloss Allner. From 1837 to 1848 Maximilian von Loë (1801-1850) was district administrator of Siegburg and Schloss Allner became the seat of the district office. After his death in 1850, his heirs left the castle and it stood empty for many years.

In 1870 the Düsseldorf ophthalmologist Albert Mooren (1828-1899) bought the castle and it was rebuilt in 1875-6 by the Franciscan brother Paschalis Gratzke in the Gothic revival style. Gratzke added steeply-pitched concave Mansard roofs on both the front towers and a third roof which joined the two towers flanking the great hall. He also removed a balcony over the front door and added a terrace and a staircase on the northwest side facing the garden.

In 1883 the castle was sold to the industrialist Philipp Heinrich Cockerill (1821-1902), whose daughter Lucy moved into the castle in 1884 with her husband, the writer Count Alfred Adelmann von Adelmannsfelden (1848-1887). Their only daughter Irma was born in the castle in 1884. She lived there from 1923 with her husband, ophthalmologist Dr. Adolf Pagenstecher (1877-1937) who became the castle's owner. In 1928 their daughter Lucy was born in the castle and baptized in the chapel.

On 7 April 1945 the US 97th Infantry Division attempted to cross the Sieg River just south of Schloss Allner. Two Wehrmacht officers and a small group of soldiers from the 353rd Infantry Division of the LVIII. Panzerkorps positioned machine guns in the towers of Schloss Allner and opened fire on the Americans as they launched boats into the river.

According to the after action report:

"Machine-gun fire was strafing the crossing area from castle near ALLNER where it had a clear field of fire and from a wooded spur at a bend in the river W of the crossing, firing upriver toward the boats. Artillery fire, TD's, heavy MG fire and mortars were all brought to bear on this castle but although it crumbled, the MG fire continued. Fire was also coming from the high ground N of the river."
In two days the 922nd Field Artillery Battalion fired over three thousand 105mm rounds at the area around the castle.
 After crossing the river, elements of the 387th Infantry Regiment assaulted the castle:

"The 2d Battalion hit very stiff resistance at the ALLNER Castle and on the ridge in the loop of the river. Anti-tank company and the TD's blasted the castle from the S bank of the SIEG River and G Company was able to clear it out."
The castle was heavily damaged by mortars, artillery and small arms fire before the Americans finally took possession of it on 8 April. The front corner tower on the south side of the manor sustained a direct hit from US artillery and was almost completely destroyed. John Rosauer estimates that ten US soldiers were killed in the assault, but there are no estimates of German military casualties.

In 1950 Lucy Pagenstecher married Rainer C. Horstmann, mayor of the municipality of Lauthausen from 1956 to 1969. Horstmann sold the castle for the symbolic price of one Deutschmark to the Bonn Caritas Association, a Catholic charity. From 1953 to 1973 the castle was used as an orphanage, the Cockerill Children's Home, staffed by Catholic nuns of the order "Schwestern vom kostbaren Blut" (Sisters of the Precious Blood).

Extensive renovations to repair damage from the war were completed in 1962, replacing the mansard roofs with tented roofs.

In the 1960s complaints began to surface in regard to the care of the 120 mostly illegitimate children living at the orphanage. On 12 April 1965 an inspection revealed overcrowding, poor sanitation and severe mistreatment of children in the home. Children were malnourished and showed signs of jaundice and beatings. Some were believed to have died from abuse and neglect. Although there were no explicit reports of sexual abuse, the investigation found that girls were occasionally removed from the orphanage on weekends and were "completely distraught" upon their return. The report did not recommend any follow-up action and none was taken until the early 1970s. A series of investigations and indictments led to the closure of the orphanage in 1973, at which time all of the orphanage's records were destroyed.

In 2010 a report based on interviews of 35 former residents and employees of the orphanage described children being tied to their beds and a chronic lack of trained staff. Former residents reported signs of psychological trauma including panic attacks and depression.

Schloss Allner remained empty for the next 11 years, suffering devastation and looting of the interior. In 1983 the Hennef town council had the doors and windows boarded up to prevent further vandalism.

The castle was purchased in 1984 by Professor Franz Schilke. Condominiums were built on the sprawling grounds known as "The Schlosspark" outside the walls of the castle. In 2010 a bridge was constructed to the castle's well-preserved watermill. Now located at Number 22 Schloßstraße, Schloss Allner is a private residential estate.



Schloss Allner

Burg Castle (German: Schloss Burg), located in Burg an der Wupper (Solingen), is the largest reconstructed castle in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and a popular tourist attraction. Its early history is closely connected to the rise of the Duchy of Berg.

In the beginning of the 12th century (after 1133), Count Adolf III of Berg built Schloss Burg on a mountain overlooking the river Wupper. The old castle of the counts, Castle Berge in Odenthal near Altenberg, was abandoned. The original name of the new castle was Castle Neuenberge (Newmountain), or in Latin, novus mons, novum castrum, or novi montis castrum. Not until the 15th century, after significant reconstruction as a hunting castle, did it receive its current name reflecting its palatial extension.

His great-grandson, Count Adolf VI of Berg took part in the Fifth Crusade and died during the siege of Damietta in Egypt in 1218. Since the late count had not any male descendants his younger brother, archbishop Engelbert I of Cologne, took over the reign of the county needing two feuds to win the inheritance dispute with Duke Waleran III of Limburg. As count Engelbert II of Berg he built the palas of Burg castle 1218-1225. Engelbert was a very powerful man, not only archbishop and count, but also advisor and chief administrator to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and guardian and tutor of the later king Henry (VII) of Germany. But he also made enemies and on November 7, 1225 he was murdered by his nephew Friedrich von Isenberg.

The War of succession for the Duchy of Limburg influenced the history of the castle. Count Adolf VIII of Berg participated successfully in the decisive battle of Worringen on 5 June 1288. After the battle, the opposing archbishop of Cologne, Siegfried II of Westerburg, was kept prisoner in the castle. Adolf VIII now was able to proceed to elevate his town, Düsseldorf, to a city and was able to control traffic on the Rhine river. In the 13th and 14th century Schloss Burg remained the main residence of the counts of Berg. Five years after King Wenzel elevated Count William to the position of a duke in 1380, Düsseldorf became the capital of the Duchy of Berg. Schloss Burg continued to serve as a hunting castle and was used for ceremonial events, hence it became a "Schloss" (representative castle). Thus in 1496, Maria of Jülich-Berg was engaged as a child to John of Cleves-Mark (later John III, Duke of Cleves). Their wedding took place 14 years later at Burg and led to the unification of the duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. The second daughter of this couple was Anne of Cleves, briefly married with Henry VIII of England.

In 1632 Swedish soldiers laid siege to the castle. After the Thirty years war, in 1648, Imperial troops destroyed the fortifications of the castle including the keep, walls, and gates. In 1700, the main building was partially reconstructed and subsequently used for administrative purposes. 1849, the castle was sold to be scrapped, decayed, and became a ruin.

The architect Gerhard August Fischer from Barmen proposed in 1882 the reconstruction and submitted drawings and plans based on old documents, primarily using the castle’s appearance in the 16th century. Since 1890 the castle reconstruction committee led the restoration of the castle during the next 24 years. Painters from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf participated. With the erection of the Battery Tower in 1914 the work seemed completed.

On the night of November 26, 1920 a large fire destroyed much of the castle. Subsequently visitors had to pay entry fees and the money was used to restore and rebuild the castle again. Reconstruction lasted from 1922 to 1925. In 1929 the Engelbert monument by the sculptor Paul Wynand was dedicated to honor the builder and archbishop.

Today’s appearance does not exactly match the condition documented by Erich Philipp Ploennies at about 1715. The reconstructed castle of today is a major public attraction. It also contains the Museum of the Bergische Land. The castle church is popular for weddings. The castle also is home to the Memorial for Deportation and the Memorial of the German Eastern Provinces with church bells from Königsberg and Breslau. In addition, commercial shops for souvenirs are located on the grounds.

The surroundings offer hiking trails to the forests and to Unterburg, that is where the village is located, at the foot of the mountain. There you can buy the Burger Brezel, a local pretzel specialty; the pretzel bakers even have a monument. A chairlift (Seilbahn) connects Unterburg and the castle.

Burg used to be an independent township until it became part of Solingen in 1975.

Linguistically, "Schloss Burg" would be translated as "palace castle" - a tautology, yet in German "Schloss" refers to a representative building and "Burg" to a fortification - an oxymoron.

Burg Castle (Solingen)

Die Burg Blankenberg ist die Ruine einer Höhenburg auf einem 152 Meter hohen Bergkamm oberhalb der Siegschleife im Ortsteil Stadt Blankenberg der Stadt Hennef, Nordrhein-Westfalen.

Geschichte
Die Burg dürfte zwischen 1150 und 1180 errichtet worden sein. Im Jahr 1181 wurde sie erstmals urkundlich erwähnt.

Die Grafen von Sayn, genauer die zwei Brüder Eberhard I. und Heinrich I., übertrugen 1152 die Burg und den Hof Sayn bei Bendorf dem Erzbischof von Trier, nachdem der Erzbischof von Köln Arnold II. diese hatte belagern und zerstören lassen, und residierten in Blankenberg. Da sie sich militärisch ruhig hielten, ließ Arnold II. sie gewähren.

Im Jahr 1363 gingen die Burg mit Stadt und dem Umland an die Grafen und späteren Herzöge von Berg.

Im Dreißigjährigen Krieg wurde die Burg von schwedischen Truppen erobert und einige Jahre besetzt. Später wurde die Burg teilweise geschleift, um anderen Kriegsherren kein lohnendes Ziel mehr zu bieten.

1829 erwarb der damalige Major Friedrich Ernst Theodor von Delitz den Burgberg Blankenberg mit der Ruine und Teilen der Altstadt, um dort ein Weingut zu betreiben. 1913 wurde das Gelände an den Fabrikanten Richard Grüneberg verkauft.

Burg Blankenberg heute

Heute bietet die Burganlage mit vier Türmen und Stadtmauer noch das Bild einer kompakten Burganlage. In den letzten Jahren wurde ihr Zustand gesichert und die Ruinen bis 2006 weitestgehend restauriert. Die Burganlage umfasst eine Vorburg und die Hauptburg. Die Vorburg ist in Privatbesitz und nicht zu besichtigen.

Die Hauptburg befindet sich im Eigentum der Stadt Hennef. Aus ihrer Mitte ragt der runde Bergfried als höchstes Bauwerk, der allerdings nicht zum Besteigen freigegeben ist. Ansonsten kann die Hauptburg in der Regel tagsüber kostenlos besichtigt werden. Vom südlich gelegenen Bastionsturm (St.-Georgs-Turm) hat man dann einen schönen Rundumblick ins Ahrenbachtal und ins Siegtal.

Seit 2006 gestaltet der Verein „Freundeskreis Burggarten Blankenberg“ die Bastionsfläche der Burganlage in einen Kräutergarten um: den Burggarten. Die Sammlung besteht inzwischen aus über 200 Heil- und Küchenkräutern. Der Burggarten ist während der Öffnungszeiten der Burganlage jederzeit zugänglich.

Seit 2012 findet auf dem Gelände der Hauptburg jährlich eine Kunstausstellung unter dem Titel „Kunst auf Burg Blankenberg“ statt. Die dabei ausgestellten meist modernen Skulpturen kommen in dem historisch anmutenden Ambiente der Burg sehr schön zur Geltung.

Die gesamte Burganlage der Burg Blankenberg – einschließlich Vorburg und Hauptburg – wurde 1985 unter Denkmalschutz gestellt. Außerdem ist sie seit 2008 eingebettet in den Denkmalbereich „Historische Kulturlandschaft 'Unteres Siegtal: Stadt Blankenberg - Bödingen'“, der als wesentliche Komponenten einerseits Stadt Blankenberg mit der Burg und andererseits den Wallfahrtsort Bödingen mit seiner Wallfahrtskirche „Zur Schmerzhaften Mutter Gottes“ sowie die gesamte dazwischenliegende, beide Seiten verbindende Siegaue umfasst.