Vischering Castle (German: Burg Vischering) in Lüdinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia is the most typical moated castle in the Münster region of Germany. This region has one of the highest German concentrations of castles, palaces and fortifications, Lüdinghausen having three by itself. The castle consists of outer defensive courtyard, defensive gateways, moat, drawbridge, main building and chapel. The sandstone walls, the red tile roofs as well as their reflection in the moat provide many harmonious views from the wooded surroundings.

Vischering Castle was built by Bischop Gerhard von der Mark to counter the second castle built by the Von Lüdinghausen family. It became the seat of the Droste zu Vischering Family. Droste is the local title for the hereditary noble administrators serving the Bishops of Münster. The moat is constantly replenished by a side-arm of the River Stever. The outer defensive courtyard contains the business and farm buildings. The main building is a horseshoe-shaped three-story structure with heavy outer wall. Its inner courtyard is closed off by the chapel and a lower defense wall. A castle keep is missing, having been removed during Renaissance renovations. Fire destroyed the castle in 1521. Rebuilding took place on the existing foundation. Windows and the addition of a large bay made the castle more liveable but diminished its defensive character. The whole site however retains the character of a feudal age moated castle. Damage from air attack during World War II was minor.

Vischering Castle houses the Münsterlandmuseum, an exhibit on knighthood for children, as well as a cafe-restaurant. It serves as a cultural center for Kreis Coesfeld. Visiting hours are provided in the first link below. Viewing the outside is possible at all times. The second link provides a more detailed chronology of the castle in German.

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Schloss Nordkirchen is a palace situated in the town of Nordkirchen in the Coesfeld administrative district in the state of North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. The schloss was largely built between 1703 and 1734 and is known as the "Versailles of Westphalia" since it is the largest of the fully or partly moated Wasserschlösser in that region. It was originally one of the residences of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster.

The present Baroque schloss is the successor to a fully moated Wasserschloss built in the sixteenth century for the noble "von Morrien" family. In the eighteenth century, the structure visible today was raised in several building campaigns for Fürstbischof Friedrich Christian von Plettenberg zu Lenhausen and his successor, Fürstbischof Ferdinand von Plettenberg. In 1833, the complex passed to Count von Esterházy who sold it to Duke Engelbert Marie von Arenberg in 1903. In 1933, the Arenberg-Nordkirchen GmbH, a newly founded ducal assets management company, assumed possession. In 1959, the schloss was purchased by the State of Nordrhein-Westfalen and has since been the site of "Fachhochschule für Finanzen Nordrhein-Westfalen", a state-run college specializing in the training of future tax inspectors. The neighboring "Oranienburg" complex and the park were subsequently added, as was – in 2004 – the deer park, which included a generous green belt of more than 1,000 hectares of woodland surrounding the south-western perimeter of the schloss proper. Parts of the interior of the schloss are open to the public, as are the parterres and the surrounding park. Inside the schloss, an up-market restaurant offering Westphalian cuisine looks out into the large formal garden that faces the northern façade of the schloss. The schloss chapel may be rented for weddings.

The architects of the schloss and its complex of outbuildings were Gottfried Laurenz Pictorius, Peter Pictorius the Younger (from 1706) and Johann Conrad Schlaun, from 1724. The taller corps de logis is flanked by symmetrical lower wings, one of which contains the chapel. The wings are rigorously symmetrical and enclose the cour d'honneur in a U shape. Dutch precedents, such as the palace Het Loo near Apeldoorn, make their presence felt, but the sandstone facing of Schloss Nordkirchen is purely Westphalian.

The schloss stands on a rectangular island surrounded by a broad moat-like canal. The island’s four corners are accentuated by four small free-standing pavilions.

The garden front gives onto a landscaped park of some 170 hectares, reached through a formal parterre of scrolling broderie on axis, flanked by expanses of lawn. The gardens and the surrounded woods are peopled with a multitude of lifesize marble statues, of which the first deliveries were made in 1721 by the Munich sculptor Johann Wilhelm Gröninger. Other sculptures were delivered by Panhoff and Charles Manskirch. Further sculptures were added during the restoration in neo-Baroque style, undertaken in 1903-07.

Nordkirchen Castle

Cappenberg Castle (German: Schloss Cappenberg) is a former Premonstratensian monastery, Cappenberg Abbey (German: Kloster Cappenberg) in Cappenberg, a part of Selm, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It stands on an elevation, the Cappenberg, near Lünen and Werne, and is a vantage point offering views over the eastern Ruhrgebiet.

In the castle grounds is a water tower constructed in 1899, now a protected monument, which was restored in 1992. The approach from the north-west to the main gate is marked by two stone lions on pedestals, standing at the entrance to an avenue between clipped oaks. On the adjacent castle grounds are a wildlife reserve and a bird of prey sanctuary.

The Counts of Cappenberg, who were related to the Salians and the Staufers, were a rich and powerful family. During the Investiture Controversy, when they supported Duke Lothar von Supplinburg against Emperor Heinrich V, Count Gottfried von Cappenberg and his brother Otto von Cappenberg led their armies against Münster in February 1121 under the leadership of Duke Lothar. A great part of the town was destroyed, and the old cathedral was burnt down. Before the Emperor could bring them to trial for violation of the peace of the realm, Gottfried – either out of genuine repentance or out of fear of the Imperial judgment - gave the greater part of his estates in Westphalia to the founder of the Premonstratensian Order, Norbert of Xanten, renounced worldly life and withdrew into a monastery, where, according to contemporary custom, he was immune from punishment.

After the ratification of the Concordat of Worms in 1122 he reappeared as Gottfried II, last Count of Cappenberg (afterwards better known as Saint Gottfried). Against the wishes of his family he founded a Premonstratensian monastery in his ancestral castle on the Cappenberg, Cappenberg Abbey (Kloster Cappenberg). For his wife, Ida, daughter of Count Friedrich von Arnsberg, and his sisters Gerberga and Beatrix, he built a nunnery next door.

The monastery was economically successful, and accumulated considerable wealth, as may still to some extent be seen from the surviving abbey church. The monastery was largely destroyed during the Thirty Years' War. The present Baroque premises in three ranges were built from 1708 onwards.

After an existence of almost 700 years the monastery was dissolved in 1803 and became an estate of the Prussian crown. After periods under the rule of France and of the Duchy of Berg, the estate was regained in 1815 by Prussia and in 1816 was acquired by the former Minister of State the Baron vom Stein, who renovated the buildings and thus preserved them from dereliction.

After the extinction of the family von und zum Stein the estate was inherited in 1926 by the family of the Counts of Kanitz.

During World War II Schloss Cappenberg served as a place of safety to protect works of art from Allied bombing, including the collections of the Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Dortmund ("Dortmund Museum of Art and Cultural History"), which were stored here, along with art treasures from various destroyed churches of Westphalia, as for example the Marienaltar by Conrad von Soest from the Marienkirche in Dortmund.

From 1946 the collection of the Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte was exhibited in the castle. The return of the collection to Dortmund did not take place until the opening of the new museum building in 1983.

In 1985 the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe ("Landscape Society of Westfalen-Lippe") and the local authority of Kreis Unna rented rooms in the castle and converted them for use as a museum. Since then, in conjunction with the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, various exhibitions have been held here. In the west wing are kept the archives of Freiherr vom Stein, who lived in the castle from 1824 until his death in 1831, and also the archives of the former monastery. In the former abbey church is a portrait bust of the period around 1160 of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa made of gilt bronze.

Nowadays Schloss Cappenberg is an excursion destination, with a museum, and is part of the Route der Industriekultur ("Industry Heritage Trail"). Art exhibitions and concerts are regularly held there.