Hoensbroek Castle
Castle Hoensbroek ( Dutch Kasteel Hoensbroek, Kasteel Gebrook, Gebrookhoes ; Limburgish Kesjtieël Gebrook ) is one of the largest castles in the Netherlands . It is located in the Hoensbroek district of Heerlen in the southeast of the Limburg province . The moated castle consists of a manor house and two outer castles and was built in several construction phases. From the original building, which dates back to the middle of the 13th century, only the foundations remain. The oldest remaining component is a round tower on the east corner of the manor house, which was built from 1360. The castle got its present form in the 17th and 18th centuries.
From the Middle Ages to the 18th century, the building was the ancestral seat of the Limburg nobility, the von Hoensbroech family . Today it is a municipal museum, and most of the rooms are furnished with period furniture and can be visited. One of the halls of the manor house serves as the official wedding venue for the Heerlen community.
Surname
The name of the castle and the place Hoensbroek goes back to the Dutch name broek for swamp (compare the German basic word break in place names and the break forest ). The village, located in a swampy area through which the Geleenbeek, Molenbeek and Auvermoer streams flow, was originally called Gebrook , Gebroek or Ingenbrouck . The mansion outside the village was accordingly called Gebrookhoes .
After knight Herman Hoen had received the place Gebrook as a gift in 1388, the line living there added the place to their name to distinguish it from other lines of the Hoen family and called themselves Hoen tzo Broeck , Hoen van den Broeck and finally van Hoensbroeck , in German from ( and to) Hoensbroech . The name Hoensbroek then passed on to the castle and the place. But the old name Gebrookhoes or Kasteel Gebrook is still in use, especially in Limburg, where the castle Kesjtieël is called Gebrook and the village is still called Gebrook .
location
The castle is located in the southwest of Hoensbroek, about one kilometer from the market square. The district of Terschuren is located about 500 meters northwest of the castle. The distance to the center of Heerlen is about six kilometers.
The moated castle is surrounded by a park . In addition to the castle pond , in which the manor is located, there is the Droomvijver (dream pond), a much larger pond than the castle pond. The Autobahn 76 ( Europastraße 314 ) passes just a few hundred meters south of the park , with a sewage treatment plant in between.
The best way to get to the castle by car is via exit no. 5 (Nuth / Hoensbroek) of the A76, or by public transport by bus from Heerlen station on the Sittard – Herzogenrath railway line .
Building
The palace complex is divided into three main structures: two outer castles (forecourt and lower courtyard) and the actual manor house. This stands in a pond and can only be reached via a bridge. The outer castles are surrounded by a moat , the northern part of which is overgrown with reeds.
Outer castles
The first (outer) outer bailey consists of three elongated farm buildings that enclose an approximately rectangular inner courtyard of around 35 × 20 meters on three sides. The longitudinal axis of the courtyard runs roughly from southwest to northeast. The north-western longitudinal wing and the north-eastern transverse wing are two-story with a gable roof , while the southwest transverse wing is only one -story and has a hipped roof . The gateway , to which a bridge leads over the moat, is located near the south end of the northwest longitudinal wing and is only slightly higher than this. It has a hipped roof, which also only protrudes slightly over the gable roof of the longitudinal wing. The long side of the square on the southeast side is open to the pond. Near the northeast end of the first courtyard, a bridge over the water leads to the gate tower of the second outer bailey. To the southwest of the outer outer bailey, between the moat and the castle pond, there is an approximately 20 × 30 meter green area, which used to be the so-called small garden of the castle, where vegetables, fruit and herbs were grown. From the southern end of this former garden, an approximately five to ten meter wide and almost 100 meter long tongue of land extends between the moat and the castle pond to the southwest, so that the moat only flows into the pond at the south corner. At the corner at which the moat bends to the south-east is the garden house, a two-story building with a square floor plan with a pointed kink helmet . At its eastern corner is a round tower with a conical roof . The house is also known as the plague tower.
Bridge and gate construction of the outer outer bailey
Inner courtyard of the outer bailey
Inner courtyard with a view of the gateway to the inner outer bailey
Garden shed
The second (inner) outer bailey is also a three-wing complex of elongated farm buildings. On three sides, it encloses an almost rectangular inner courtyard with an area of approximately 35 × 20 meters, which runs roughly at right angles to the inner courtyard of the first outer bailey. The north-east longitudinal wing and the two transverse wings in the north-west and south-east are two-story and have a gable roof. The gate tower, also known as the brewery, is located near the southern end of the northwestern transverse wing. It is one storey higher than the wing buildings and has a hipped roof on which an onion-shaped ridge sits. The long side of the square on the southwest side is open to the pond. Near the southeast end of this side, a third bridge leads to the manor house. This stone bridge is designed as an arch bridge with three bays and has a length of about 13 meters. It ends about three meters before the manor house, the last part is spanned by a wooden drawbridge . On the transverse side of the second inner courtyard opposite the gate tower, the garden gate leads to a green area that is still within the moat. In front of the north-eastern longitudinal wing of the second outer bailey, it forms a strip of around 30 × 100 meters, in front of the south-eastern transverse wing an area of around 70 × 80 meters. There was the so-called Great Garden of the castle, in which vegetables, fruits and herbs were also grown.
Gate construction of the inner outer bailey
Inner courtyard of the inner outer bailey
Farm buildings in the inner outer bailey
South-east wing with garden gate
Mansion
The manor house is a four-wing building with a rectangular inner courtyard measuring around 16 × 10 meters, which lies parallel to the inner courtyard of the second outer bailey. The gateway on the northeast side of the complex, to which the stone bridge leads, is a two-story building with a gable roof and a length of about ten and a width of about five meters. In the middle there is a portal to which the drawbridge is attached and through which an approximately 2.50 meter wide passage leads into the inner courtyard. The gate is flanked on the side by two three-story towers with a base area of around 7.50 × 7.50 meters, which have onion-shaped hoods and are also referred to as front towers because of their location at the entrance.
The two side wing structures adjoin the front towers. They are two-story and have hip roofs. The left (south-eastern) wing structure has a footprint of around 19 × 15 meters, the right (north-western) of around 17.50 × 11 meters. At the rear of the inner courtyard, the two wing structures are connected by an approximately five-meter-wide wing, the ground floor of which is taken up by an archway made of Tuscan columns and basket arches that opens onto the inner courtyard . Several doors lead into the castle from the inner courtyard. On the northwest side, a staircase leads to a lowered corridor in front of the basement of the wing building, where today the main entrance for visitors to the palace is located. To the right of it, a staircase leads up six steps to a door in the right front tower. In the south-east wing there is a smaller rectangular door in the left corner and a portal on the right of the middle with a two-winged arched door. There are also entrances to the adjacent wing structures on both sides of the archway. In the middle of the back wall of the archway, a double-winged round arched door leads to the castle chapel , which consists of an approximately 3 × 4 meter large room with an apse and protrudes from the south-west facade of the castle into the pond.
At the west corner of the northwest wing there is a round tower with a diameter of 9.50 meters. Its walls are about three meters thick. This tower dates from the 14th century and is the oldest remaining part of the castle. He wears an octagonal, pointed spire with an onion-shaped top. There is also a tower on the south corner of the southeast wing, but it has a rectangular floor plan of 9.50 × 8 meters and an octagonal, pointed spire with a hemispherical end. Both towers are about 60 meters high. Thus, each of the two wing structures is flanked diagonally by two towers: the two lower ones with an onion dome flank the gate on the northeast side of the castle, the two higher ones with an angled helmet form the lateral ends of the southwest facade facing the pond.
Manor house from the southwest (waterfront)
Manor house from the northeast (entrance side)
Portal with drawbridge
patio
inside rooms
Over 40 rooms of the castle are furnished with historical furniture and can be viewed during a tour of the castle. Other rooms serve as offices and are not open to the public. Inventories from the 17th century show not only the furnishings of the time but also the names of the rooms.
The largest rooms of the castle, the ballroom and the green room, are located in the north-west wing of the manor house, which dates from the 18th century. The ballroom ( sael ) on the ground floor extends across the entire wing and has a size of around 10 × 7 meters. To the north-east of this are two antechambers ( nephews den sael ), through which one reaches the ground floor of the right front tower. There was the dining room ( eetsael ) of the lords of the castle. It is one of the two rooms of the castle with a ceiling painting . The ceiling painting shows the goddess Venus with a palm branch, swan and float. On the other side of the dining room a door leads into a cabinet ( kabinet ), which is already in the ground floor of the gatehouse. There the ceiling painting shows a hunting scene with the goddess Diana . To the southwest of the ballroom, the monumental staircase ( de groote trap ) leads to the other floors of the wing. There is an ancestral gallery of the Hoensbroech family. The green room ( groene kamer ) above the ballroom on the first floor has the same dimensions as this one. It was the lords' bedroom and takes its name from a green four-poster bed that stands there. The wall covering is also kept entirely in green. A kitchen ( kelderkeucken ) is located in the basement under the ballroom . Its ribbed vault rests in the center of the room on two Tuscan columns. A room next to the kitchen ( neffens de keucken ), which previously served as a lounge for the staff, is now the starting point for tours of the castle.
Basement kitchen
Staircase with ancestral gallery
Ballroom
Ceiling painting in the dining room
The medieval round tower from the 14th century, in which a narrow spiral staircase within the three-meter-thick walls connects the individual floors with one another, is also accessible from the stairwell of the north-west wing. In the basement of the tower there is a windowless dungeon ( gevangeniscel ) with a beamed ceiling. This cell receives light and air only through a narrow shaft in the thick outer wall. Above is a room with a domed vault ( steynen kamer ). A narrow corridor connects the room with the staircase of the north-west wing. Another passage leads to a garderobe ( gemaak ) on the outside wall of the tower. Two low shafts lead through the outer wall of the tower to the windows. In one of these shafts there is a bench made of brick . A large wall niche serves as a fireplace, and objects can be stored in smaller niches. The rooms on the other floors of the tower are designed similarly. The room on the first floor ( boven op den alten toorncamer ) is also connected to the stairwell of the north-west wing via a corridor. It served as a guard room to observe the surroundings, in peacetime as a living room. There three shafts with stone benches lead to the windows. An opening in the ceiling was used to pull up objects that could not be transported up the spiral staircase . The topmost room of the round tower is 42 meters above the water level and has loopholes to defend the tower.
Room on the ground floor
Basement dungeon
Window niche with a brick bench
Aborterker
The main portal of the south-east wing, to whose double-winged arched door a few steps lead, is located near the south corner of the inner courtyard on the right-hand side of the courtyard facade. Behind the door is a hallway ( vorhuys , vorsael ) with doors leading to the adjoining rooms. A staircase to the southwest of the hall connects the other floors of the wing. The largest room on the ground floor is the groot salet , which served as a dining room. It is located in the east corner of the wing and is about 9 × 5.50 meters. There are two hatches in the room: one from the kitchen and one from the drinks compartment. Above the chimney is the alliance coat of arms of the client Adriaan von und zu Hoensbroech and his wife Isabelle von Loë . A door leads into the room on the first floor of the left front tower ( kamer in de cleynen toren ). It used to be called Mijnheers camer (gentlemen's room) and was probably a private room of the client Adriaan. The coat of arms of the Hoensbroech family is placed above the fireplace. Next to the Great Hall, between the hall and the left front tower, there is now an elevator. There used to be the drinks chamber ( bottelrye ), in which wine bottles, crockery and cutlery were kept. To the southwest of the Great Hall is the kitchen ( keuken ) with an open fireplace. An opening in the floor was used to dispose of the waste in the castle pond. In the right rear corner a door leads into the scullery ( speul ), which was also used as a storage room. The small hall ( cleyn salet ) at the southwest end of the wing is also accessible from the hall . This room presumably served as the estate manager's office, who managed the estate's economy on behalf of the lord of the castle. There was also a hatch from the kitchen from this room. A door leads from the small hall into the room on the ground floor of the large rectangular tower ( onder in de groeten toren ). Lothar Frans Willem, the last lord of the Hoensbroek castle, died there in 1796. In the wall between the small hall and the tower, a staircase, the base of which is covered by a wall cupboard, leads to a secret room, garderobbe achter de groten toren (cloakroom behind the great tower) or het camerke bovens de speul (little room above the scullery ) called. It's between the scullery ceiling and the first floor floor. The purpose of this secret chamber is not known. According to an inventory from 1653, it contained a bed, a table and a decorative chair.
Great Hall
kitchen
Room in the left front tower
Room in the large square tower
The layout of the first floor corresponds to that of the ground floor. The rooms are therefore sometimes simply named after the ones below, e.g. B. above the large or small hall or the kitchen ( boven het groot salet / het cleyn salet / de keuken ). The stairwell first leads into a hallway with doors to the adjoining rooms. In the 17th century, these were mainly used as bedrooms. The largest room is above the Great Hall ( boven het groot salet ) and has the same dimensions. A door leads into the room on the first floor of the left front tower ( op den cleynen toren ). The coats of arms of Adriaan's parents are on the black mantelpiece, on the left that of his father Ulrich von Hoensbroech, on the right that of his stepmother Catharina from the Spies von Büllesheim zu Schweinheim family . This room is connected to the valet's room ( camerdynaer ), which is already on the first floor of the gate building , via two adjacent doors . The hallway leads to the room above the kitchen ( boven de keuken ), which is set up as a hunting room. Rifles hang between the windows and hunting trophies on the walls. A door leads into the adjoining small room via the scullery and secret chamber ( op de garderobbe ). In addition, the hallway leads to the room above the small hall ( boven het cleyn salet ), from which a door leads into the room on the first floor of the large rectangular tower ( op den groten toren ).
Wedding room above the great hall
Hallway with staircase
Room in the left front tower
Hunting room above the kitchen
On the second floor there is the large attic (grote zolder) . The roof structure was originally made entirely without nails, only by mortising , nails were only used during a restoration . The mechanics for a clock and a carillon are located in the large attic. The rooms on the second floor of the left front tower and the large rectangular tower can also be reached from there.
The rooms in the basement are arranged similarly to those on the ground floor and first floor. Under the small windows the walls have loopholes to defend the castle. The basement rooms served as storage. An inventory from 1682 mentions milk cans, butter kegs, beer kegs and meat kegs. In the room under the scullery there is a well, into which perishable food in buckets was let down through a hatch in the floor so that it can be kept longer by cooling with the water.
The rooms for the servants are located in the connecting buildings between the two wings. The rooms for the higher-ranking staff are on the first floor of the gateway and have small open chimneys. The rooms for the lower staff are on the first floor of the rear building above the arcade walkway ( op de gellerie ) and have no chimneys. In the three rooms above the arcade there were seven beds for the staff. The small attic ( cleyne zolder ) is located above these rooms .
The space protruding into the pond at the back of the arcade, in which the castle chapel is located today, originally served other purposes that are not known. During the Middle Ages, the chapel was located in the northwest wing of the previous building. After its collapse in 1717, the chapel was set up in its current location around 1720.
Large attic
Cooling fountain in the basement
Servants' room
chapel
history
Building history
During restoration work on the castle in the 20th century, foundations from five different epochs were found, which testify that today's castle was built in five successive construction phases that stretched over almost 500 years.
First construction phase (around 1250)
Around 1250 a permanent house was built on the site that is now occupied by the inner courtyard and the rear connecting wing of the manor house. It had a rectangular floor plan measuring approximately 18.85 × 16 meters. Its foundations were 1 to 1.5 meters thick, but the outer walls of the building were probably not that thick. The walls that surround the courtyard now stand on the foundations of this house. The vaulted basement, which was already above the surface of the water, had wedge-shaped loopholes through which the house could be defended. There was probably a round tower at the east corner of the house.
Second construction phase (from 1360)
The permanent house was expanded for the first time in more than 100 years. While some authors give the knight Herman Hoen and his wife Cecilia von Borne as the builder and a construction period from 1360 to 1368, others attribute the extension to Herman's son Nicolaas II and thus to the beginning of the 15th century.
The extension comprised a rectangular building and a mighty round tower on its western corner. The rectangular building had a floor area of around 16 × 10 meters and was directly connected to the north-west facade of the old permanent house. Its marl foundations are 2 to 2.35 meters thick. On the round tower in the west corner, eight rings on top of each other can be seen in the masonry, which were related to the eight years of construction from 1360 to 1368. However, this interpretation is controversial. The round tower originally had a defense platform , an open battlement and battlements as an upper end. From a walled-up, but still clearly recognizable passage on the second floor of the round tower, it can be seen that the medieval building was higher than today's north-west wing of the manor house.
Third construction phase (15th - 16th century)
In front of the north-east facade, a square-shaped tower was erected at the dividing point between the old building from the 13th century and the extension from the 14th century. It had the same dimensions as today's right front tower, but only its foundations have been preserved. Due to the lack of written documents, this building can only be dated approximately to the middle of the 15th century to the end of the 16th century, and thus to a time when the castle was inhabited by two divided family lines. Because of the imprecise dating, it is also unclear who built the tower.
Fourth construction phase (from 1640)
After Adriaan von und zu Hoensbroech was elevated to the status of imperial baron in 1635 , he had the medieval building redesigned into a representative Renaissance castle according to plans by Matthieu Dousin . In 1640 the construction of the two outer castles began with the farm buildings. There, among other things, a horse stable, a cowshed, a pigsty, a barn, where the income from were tithes were stored, a brewery and a shed for carriages.
In 1643 the conversion of the manor house into a four-wing palace complex began. A large part of the existing components can be traced back to this conversion. To make room for the inner courtyard, the original 13th century building was completely demolished. Then the gate, the left front tower, the southeast wing, the square tower on its south corner and the connecting tract with the archway on the back of the courtyard were built. In 1656 the expansion work was completed.
Fifth construction phase (around 1720)
In 1717 the medieval northwest wing collapsed. It is not certain when exactly the reconstruction took place, probably around 1720. It is also unclear who initiated the reconstruction. At that time Johan Willem Adriaan was lord of the castle. However, he lived in Haag Castle , while his son Frans Arnold Adriaan had settled in Hoensbroek Castle after his marriage around 1720. Frans Arnold Adriaan as the client is therefore more natural.
During the reconstruction, the north-west wing was enlarged to its current dimensions of 17.50 × 11.50 meters. In keeping with the style of the time, the facade was equipped with large windows that let a lot of light into the interior. The style of the building reveals a French influence. Since the bricks of the right front tower are of the same type as those of the northwest wing, it is believed that it was demolished along with the remains of the wing structure and rebuilt on the old foundations with the same dimensions.
Stylistic epochs
Renaissance wing, 17th century
Baroque wing, 18th century
The parts of the building still preserved belong essentially to three stylistic epochs:
- Only the round tower on the western corner remains from the Middle Ages. The other medieval parts of the building were demolished or greatly changed during later renovations.
- The left part of the castle (gate, left front tower, southeast wing, square tower on the south corner, rear connecting wing with chapel) is built in the Renaissance style.
- The north-west wing and the right front tower show the baroque style .
The difference between the Renaissance and Baroque parts can be clearly seen on the northeast facade (access side) and the southwest facade (pond side). It becomes particularly clear when comparing the courtyard facades of the 17th century south-east wing in the Renaissance style and the baroque north-west wing from the 18th century.
The courtyard facades of the south-east wing, the gateway and the connecting wing on the back are made in alternating layers with brick and natural stone , the Namur Meuse coal limestone ( bluestone ), and are thus typical of the Maasland Renaissance . The horizontal bands formed by the bluestone run level with the upper and lower edges of the window and in the middle of the window. The tall lead glass windows are divided in two by a stone band, the lower part can be closed by a red-brown painted shutter .
In the baroque north-west wing, the bluestone bands only run at the level of the lower edge of the window, which makes the walls appear more flat. The brick used is lighter than in the Renaissance part of the castle. The lattice windows with vaulted gables in the French Baroque style are much wider than the old windows.
Lords of the castle
The lords of Schloss Hoensbroek were members of the Hoen family, later called Hoensbroech, for several centuries. No sources are known of the original builders of the Gebrookhaus. It is also unclear since when the Hoen family had owned the castle. Knight Nicolaas Hoen, mayor of Maastricht and first in the secured line of the Hoen family, owned a mill near the castle, the Drakenmolen (dragon mill), as early as 1370 . Nicolaas' son Herman received the town of Gebrook as a gift from Duchess Johanna von Brabant and Limburg in 1388 for his services in the battles against the dukes of Jülich and Geldern , which was then removed from the Heerlener Land. It is unclear whether the Hoen family had owned the house before they were given the place or whether they received it together with the place. It is also unclear whether the first extension to the permanent house that existed at the time was built by Herman or by his son Nicolaas II.
The sons of Nicolaas II., Herman II. And Johan, divided the rule and the castle between themselves. One line inhabited the old part from the 13th century, the other the new part. The lines were referred to as de Hoens op den Zaal or de Hoens van de Zaal (the Hoens on / from the hall) and de Hoens op de Keuken or de Hoens van de Keuken (the Hoens on / from the kitchen). Ulrich from the op den Zaal line bought Reinier's half of the castle in 1612 from the op de Keuken line . Since then, the castle has only been inhabited by the op den Zaal line , who are therefore considered the actual lords of the castle of Hoensbroek. Its ancestral line has been handed down without gaps, while that of the op de Keuken line is incomplete. With the exception of the founder of the line, Johan Hoen op de Keuken, only the lords of the castle of the line op den Zaal are listed in the following table .
The family rose to the titled nobility under Ulrich's son Adriaan von und zu Hoensbroech , who was elevated to the status of imperial baron in 1635. As early as 1618 he inherited the Haag Castle in Geldern from an uncle , which replaced Hoensbroek Castle as the family seat in the 18th century. He had also taken over the inheritance of the marshal of the Duchy of Geldern, which was connected to the castle property . Under him, Hoensbroek Castle was expanded and rebuilt, as it essentially still exists today. Adriaan's son, Arnold Adriaan , became the Spanish ambassador of the Spanish-Dutch Marquis in 1675 .
In the 18th century the lords of the castle only lived in the castle occasionally. Arnold Adriaan's son Johan Willem Adriaan , who was granted the status of imperial count with unlimited inheritance in 1733 , only lived in Haag Castle, while his son Frans Arnold Adriaan lived in Hoensbroek Castle. During the time of these two lords of the castle, the north-west wing and the right front tower were built. Frans Arnold Adriaan's son Lothar Frans Willem was the last lord of the Hoensbroek castle. He died there in 1796.
| Surname | born | Lord of the castle from | died | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicolaas I. | ? | 1371 | from 1370 owned at least one mill in Hoensbroek | |
| Herman I. | 1371/1388 (?) | 1404 | Son Nicolaas I, first lord of Hoensbroek, presumably the first extension of the castle goes back to him, maybe also to his son Nicolaas | |
| Nicolaas II | 1404 | 1428 | Son of Hermans I. | |
| Herman II | 1429 | 1454 | Son of Nicolaas II, died childless | |
| Nicolaas III. | 1454 | 1474 | Son of Nicolaas II, inherited his share after the death of his brother Herman II and founded the line of "Hoens van de Zaal" , who are considered the actual lords of the castle | |
| Johan | 1434 | 1447 | Son of Nicolaas II, founder of the branch line of the "Hoens van de Keuken" , who lived in part of the castle until 1615 | |
| Nicolaas IV. | 1474 | 1516 | Son of Nicolaas III. | |
| Herman III. | 1516 | 1543 | Son of Nicolaas IV. | |
| Wolter | 1543 | ~ 1570 | Son of Hermans III, died childless | |
| Godart | ~ 1563 | 1584 | Son Hermans III, took over his brother's property during his lifetime due to the poor health of his brother | |
| Ulrich | 1584 | 1631 | Son of Godart, reunited the castle in one hand | |
| Adriaan | 1589 | 1631 | 1675 | Ulrich's son, under him the expansion of the mansion into a four-wing complex and the construction of the two outer castles took place |
| Arnold Adriaan | 1631 | 1675 | 1694 | Son of Adriaan |
| Johan Willem Adriaan | 1666 | 1694 | 1735 | Son Arnold Adriaan, under him or under his son Frans Arnold Adriaan, the new construction of the northwest wing and the right front tower took place |
| Frans Arnold Adriaan | 1735 | 1759 | Son of Johan Willem Adriaans | |
| Lothar Frans Willem | 1722 | 1759 | 1796 | Son Frans Arnold Adriaans, last lord of the castle, after his death none of Hoensbroech's lived in the castle |
Usage history
For several centuries the castle was the seat of the Hoen family (later called Hoensbroech). In the 18th century, when the Hoensbroech family no longer lived permanently in the castle, the farm buildings of the first outer bailey were leased. After the death of Lothar Frans in 1796, the mansion was mostly empty, only the estate manager lived in a few rooms at times.
In the course of the following century the castle deteriorated more and more. Maintenance work was carried out until 1843, after which no more invoices for such work can be found in the estate manager's archive. The former mayor Hoensbroeks reported in 1860 that the castle was very damaged. In 1899 the rear of the southern corner tower collapsed. In 1925 the courtyard was badly damaged by a fire. Inside the castle, the floors had partially collapsed.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the castle owner at the time, Count Frans Lothar, tried to auction the castle to the public, which meant that it should be repaired. But he couldn't find a buyer. Finally, the Hoensbroek pastor Röselaers founded the Ave Rex Christe association , who bought the castle for 65,000 guilders with the aim of ensuring that it was preserved. The association had the castle and the farm buildings largely restored from 1930 to 1943 under the direction of the State Monument Protection Office.
From 1943 to 1946, under the direction of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus , the castle housed foster children from a home in Velsen , North Holland , before the outbuildings were used as an internment camp in 1946 .
From 1947 the entire complex was rented for the next 20 years to the Staatsmijnen in Limburg (state mines in Limburg), which operated the Staatsmijn Emma coal mine near Hoensbroek .
The writer Bertus Aafjes lived in the castle from 1951 to 1973 . From 1967 the municipality of Hoensbroek rented the castle. After they were incorporated into Heerlen in 1982, the town of Heerlen became a new tenant. In 1985, the Ave Rex Christe association was transformed into a foundation that continues to own the castle.
Todays use
After the city of Heerlen rented the castle, another restoration took place from 1986 to 1989. Since then, the castle has been open to the public as a municipal museum. It can be visited with or without a guide. Twice a year, at the Museum Weekend in April and at the Open Monument Day in September, admission is free.
The tour leads through more than 40 historically furnished rooms. In some rooms, life-size figures depict scenes from life in the castle. Workshops such as B. fencing , archery and falconry offered. There are special events and children's parties for children such as B. a scavenger hunt in disguise through the castle or a search for the castle dragon.
The halls of the castle can be rented for events. Hoensbroek Castle is one of the four official locations for weddings in the municipality of Heerlen. The weddings take place in the boven het groot salet room on the first floor of the south-east wing. The green room on the first floor of the north-west wing is used for music events.
Every year on the Ascension and Pentecost weekend , the castle is the venue for a knight tournament , which is connected to a medieval market . From July to October 2010, the largest sand sculpture festival in the Netherlands took place on the castle grounds. Under the motto knights and castles , 30 artists from several countries created sand sculptures of castles and historical court scenes on an area of 2500 m² .
literature
- SAPF Hurenkamp: Hoensbroek Castle . 5th edition. Hoensbroek Castle, Hoensbroek 2001.
- Richard Klapheck : The art of architecture on the Lower Rhine . tape 1 : From the architecture of the Middle Ages to the end of the 17th century . Düsseldorf 1916, OCLC 615408385 , p. 284-293 ( archive.org ).
- C. Roos: Het kasteel te Hoensbroek . Ed .: Cultureel Centrum Kasteel Hoensbroek. Hoensbroek (Dutch).
- M. van de Venne, J. Th. H. de Win, PAH Peeters: Geschiedenis van Hoensbroek . Gemeentebestuur van Hoensbroek, Hoensbroek 1967 (Dutch).
- J. Th. H. de Win: Gebroekhoes te Hoensbroek . Ed .: Restauratiestichting Limburg s. l. 2nd Edition. 1962 (Dutch).
- J. Th. H. de Win: Kasteel Hoensbroek . In: Nederlandse Kastelenstichtung (Ed.): Nederlandse Kastelen . Deel IX. Hoensbroek 1976 (Dutch).
Web links
- Official website (German, Dutch)
- Hoensbroek ( memento from February 23, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) on Nederlandse Middeleeuwse Kastelen (Dutch, with floor plan of the construction phases ( memento from February 22, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ))
- Hoensbroek Castle In: castles.nl (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ For the etymology see v. a. The history. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Official website of Schloss Hoensbroek. P. 1 , archived from the original on November 27, 2016 ; Retrieved January 2, 2011 . - Richard Klapheck: The art of architecture on the Lower Rhine . S. 287 ( archive.org ).
- ↑ For a description of the exterior see v. a. Hurenkamp: Hoensbroek Castle. Pp. 16-17.
- ↑ a b Welcome to Hoensbroek Castle. In: Official website of Hoensbroek Castle. Retrieved January 4, 2011 .
- ↑ For a description of the interior see v. a. Hurenkamp: Hoensbroek Castle. P. 4–16 and the floor plans on p. 26.
- ↑ Floor plan of the foundations of Hoensbroek Castle. In: Nederlandse Middeleeuwse Kastelen. Archived from the original on February 22, 2013 ; Retrieved December 16, 2010 (Dutch).
- ↑ See also the animation of the construction phases
- ↑ For the construction phases see v. a. The history. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Official website of Schloss Hoensbroek. Pp. 1-6 , archived from the original on November 27, 2016 ; Retrieved January 2, 2011 . - Hurenkamp: Hoensbroek Castle. Pp. 3 and 17-18.
- ↑ a b The story. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Official website of Schloss Hoensbroek. P. 1 , archived from the original on November 27, 2016 ; Retrieved January 2, 2011 .
- ↑ a b The story. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Official website of Schloss Hoensbroek. P. 2 , archived from the original on November 27, 2016 ; Retrieved January 2, 2011 .
- ↑ whores Kamp: Castle Hoensbroek. P. 18.
- ^ Ronald Stenvert: Limburg. Rijksdienst voor de Monumentenzorg, Zeist 2003, ISBN 90-400-9623-6 , pp. 156–157 ( Monuments in Nederland. Volume 8; dbnl.org ).
- ↑ The story. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Official website of Schloss Hoensbroek. P. 6 , archived from the original on November 27, 2016 ; Retrieved January 2, 2011 .
- ^ Richard Klapheck: The architecture on the Lower Rhine . S. 288 f . ( archive.org ).
- ↑ For the lords of the castle see v. a. The history. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Official website of Schloss Hoensbroek. Pp. 3–7 , archived from the original on November 27, 2016 ; Retrieved January 2, 2011 . - Hurenkamp: Hoensbroek Castle. Pp. 18-21 and 23-25.
- ↑ For the history of use of the castle in the 19th and 20th centuries, see v. a. The history. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Official website of Schloss Hoensbroek. P. 7 , archived from the original on November 27, 2016 ; Retrieved January 2, 2011 . - Hurenkamp: Hoensbroek Castle. P. 22.
- ↑ leadership. (No longer available online.) In: Official website of Hoensbroek Castle. Archived from the original on March 21, 2013 ; Retrieved January 4, 2011 .
- ↑ whores Kamp: Castle Hoensbroek. P. 4–16 and the floor plans on p. 26.
- ↑ Workshops. In: Official website of Hoensbroek Castle. Retrieved January 4, 2011 .
- ↑ a b events. (No longer available online.) In: Official website of Hoensbroek Castle. Archived from the original on March 21, 2013 ; Retrieved January 4, 2011 .
- ↑ Children's parties at Kasteel Hoensbroek. Like in a fairy tale: children let their imaginations run wild. (No longer available online.) In: Official website of Hoensbroek Castle. Archived from the original on February 3, 2012 ; Retrieved January 4, 2011 .
- ↑ Hall rental. (No longer available online.) In: Official website of Hoensbroek Castle. Archived from the original on March 21, 2013 ; Retrieved January 4, 2011 .
- ↑ wedding. (No longer available online.) In: Official website of Hoensbroek Castle. Archived from the original on March 21, 2013 ; Retrieved January 4, 2011 .
- ↑ Heerlen - Trouwlocaties. In: www.heerlen.nl. Retrieved August 17, 2016 (Dutch).
- ^ Sand Sculpture Festival. (No longer available online.) In: Official website of Hoensbroek Castle. Archived from the original on November 17, 2016 ; Retrieved November 30, 2010 .
- ↑ Anja Klingbeil: Imposing knight tournaments and sand sculpture festival at Kasteel Hoensbroek. In: pressefeuer.at. Zeitungsverlag Aachen, May 6, 2010, accessed on November 30, 2010 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 55 ′ 1.1 ″ N , 5 ° 55 ′ 5 ″ E
