Elsum Castle

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Southwest view of the main castle of Elsum Castle

The Elsum Castle is a moated castle west of the Wassenberg neighborhood Birgelen . His story illustrates the typical development of Rhenish water castles: from a fortified farm over a moth to a two-part, wasserumwehrten castle , which in the early modern period was converted into a moated castle.

The plant is since September 11, 1984 under monument protection .

history

Elsum Castle around 1875

Elsum Castle emerged from a moth, the roots of which can be found in an allodial courtyard, whose owner in 1280 was a Franko von Elsum. This is probably identical with Franko von Koslar , the then burgrave of Wassenberg . Since he and his liege lord sided with the loser in the Battle of Worringen in 1288 , the Elsum farm came into Brabant possession. In 1325 the Duke of Brabant enfeoffed the nobleman von Wassenberg with Elsum, and in 1374 Lambert von Heinsberg was a liege-taker . In 1375 Johann IV of Brabant pledged the Elsum house to Johann von Gronsfeld. It remained an open house of the Brabant dukes until 1424, when the property came into the possession of the Heinsberg family .

In 1503 Haus Elsum came to Rütger von Aldenbrück (also Aldenbrüggen) called Vellbrüggen through marriage. He had the core of the complex rebuilt. His family remained the owners until the 17th century. In 1628 the property came to Kendenich through marriage to Adolf Sigismund Raitz von Frentz . Around 1700 he went to Melchior of boiler city, in 1714 the building of the outer ward was reconstructed. In 1748 he sold the property to the mayor of Cologne , Melchior Rutger von Kerich, to whom the von Mirbach zu Harff family - relatives of the von Aldenbrück family - wanted to dispute the property. In a long legal battle, Melchoir Rutger was able to assert himself against them and keep Elsum to himself. By marriage, the facility came to Everhard von und zum Pütz, and then in the 18th century to his son-in-law, the Electorate of Mainz, Baron Franz Georg von Leykam. From the last member of the von Leykam family, Elsum came to his nephew, Werner Freiherr von Negri, in 1929, whose family had it rebuilt and expanded in 1876 by Heinrich Wiethase . This is still the owner of the facility today.

During the Second World War , Elsum Castle was almost completely destroyed in January 1945 and burned down. Large parts of the extensive collection of paintings and the library were lost in the fire. Under Oswald Freiherr von Negri, a complete reconstruction followed from 1952 and came to an end in 1955.

description

Ground plan of the inner castle

Castle Elsum is a two part system consisting of a built in the early 16th century main castle and a north-west of it situated outer bailey from the first quarter of the 17th century. Brick was mainly used as the material for the masonry , while bluestone was used for door and window frames . The palace complex is almost completely surrounded by moats .

The outer bailey is an almost completely closed four-wing building. Its medieval predecessor was probably flanked by round corner towers, but these - like parts of the once closed moat ring around the outer bailey - have not been preserved. The simple brick buildings have a few arched doors on the courtyard side , which are framed by pilasters . The year 1714 in a small gable bears witness to the year the building was built. Elsewhere, iron wall anchors in the form of the number 1814 are a reminder of structural renovations.

The core castle, which goes back to a late Gothic moated castle, stands on an irregularly square, artificially raised and walled castle island, which is accessed from the outer castle via a rising arched bridge . The two-wing built in L-form mansion is reinforced by three diagonally standing square towers, whose ultimate floor over a stud fries easily cantilever is. The east tower is not only stronger than the other two towers and has a larger edge length, but is also one storey higher. Its outer walls are so thick that they can accommodate a staircase that is as thick as the wall. It has a hipped roof with a short ridge , while the other two towers have slim eight-sided helmets . The palace chapel , built in 1860 in the neo-Gothic style, is located in the northwest corner of the Kernburg Island . A baroque garden house previously stood there , which was again built on the site of the fourth corner tower that was originally there.

The three-storey part of the manor house, located between the east and south towers, was only built on the site of a narrower, single-storey building during the restoration and expansion work carried out in 1876 according to plans by Heinrich Wiethase. The southwest wing was the former residential building of the moated castle. It is divided into six axes by windows and - like the south-east wing - has stepped gables on both of its narrow sides .

literature

Web links

Commons : Schloss Elsum  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Brief description of the monument authority , accessed on January 18, 2020.
  2. ↑ a b c Hanns Ott: Rheinische Wasserburgen. 1984, p. 178.
  3. ↑ a b c d Karl Franck-Oberaspach, Edmund Renard: The art monuments of the district of Heinsberg. 1906, p. 17.
  4. ↑ a b Gregor Spohr: How nice to dream here. Castles on the Lower Rhine. 2001, p. 142.
  5. ↑ Historical buildings and facilities on the website of the city of Wassenberg , accessed on January 18, 2020.
  6. ↑ Karl Franck-Oberaspach, Edmund Renard: The art monuments of the district of Heinsberg. 1906, p. 18.

Coordinates: 51 ° 6 '54.4 "  N , 6 ° 8' 2.2"  E