Langendonk House (Geldern)

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Tower ruins of the house Langendonk, view from the northwest

Langendonk House was a moated castle on the Lower Rhine . From the plant today only is ruins of a tower exists, the close Issumer Fleuth in Gelderner district Aengenesch the north B58 of Issum is after money. The ruins are in the money list of monuments of the city registered and therefore stands as a monument under monument protection .

history

Langendonk house on an engraving shortly after 1720

The Langendonk house was first mentioned in a document dated April 30, 1391. In it the squire Johann von Wyenhorst carried his "huys zu Langendunck" to the Archbishop of Cologne, Friedrich III. from Saar to become an open house . The archbishop had previously allowed him to fortify the property . However, Kurköln was not allowed to use the facility for warlike purposes against the Dukes of Geldern and the Dukes of Berg . This derogation resulted from the curiosity that the Fleuth, which flowed through the castle area , formed the border between the Duchy of Geldern and Kurköln, so that the core castle of House Langendonk was Electoral Cologne, while the outer castle belonged to Geldern.

After the death of Johann Wyenhorsts 1436 John of the Alps, was Drost of Klever country and owners of home Zelhem , household Langendonk invested . Other known owners were Arnold von Wachtendonk in 1672 and Adolf Bertram von Wachtendonk in 1693. From 1696 the Lords of Ossery were the owners of Langendonk and remained so until the 19th century. However, the family did not manage the estate belonging to the castle themselves, but leased it. In 1871, Langendonk was owned by the Bowenschen family, from whom it came to Karl Kypers in 1889/90. Kypers sold the system to Heinrich Schreiber in 1897/98. Then it came to a merchant named Hertz, who sold the Langendonk house to Wilhelm Croonenbrock. His descendants are still the owners of the property today and farm next to the tower ruins. Its last resident was the pastor Anton Mömken. He hid there during the Kulturkampf because he was holding church services for the people of Aengen without permission.

description

Tower ruins, view from the north

Nothing is known about the medieval appearance of Langendonk House. Something about the shape and shape of the castle is only known from a map from 1790. Accordingly, the complex consisted of a core castle on the eastern bank of the Fleuth and a bailey with two buildings to the west of it. Both areas of the castle were surrounded by moats that were fed by the Fleuth. Those in the outer bailey were already partially filled in in 1790. From the outer bailey a bridge led to the gate of the inner bailey. This was flanked on its north side by a tower. A building was attached to the north of the tower. The north and south sides of the main castle island were taken up by two parallel building wings, while the east side was completely undeveloped. In the Middle Ages there was probably another wing of the building.

Langendonk House, ca.1920

The ruin of the tower next to the former castle gate is the only building that still exists today by Haus Langendonk. Although various extensions were added and demolished again in the course of its history, the structure of the tower is largely authentic. Because no detailed building research has been carried out on the tower so far, its creation can only be made on the basis of stylistic and historical features and comparisons of the building design and wall technology with towers in areas near the border of the Netherlands. Accordingly, the building is in the 14./15. Date to the 16th century. It has a square floor plan with an external length of 6.90 meters. The masonry on its four floors is still around 15.50 meters high today. Its ground floor has a barrel vault and could only be reached through a small opening from the first floor. It was not a dungeon , but more likely a storage room. The remaining floors were separated from each other by beam ceilings . In the past, the tower was integrated into the approximately 1.30 meter thick circular wall of the facility. The break-off edges can still be seen on the north and south outer walls. The high entrance was on the first floor on the east side facing the castle courtyard and was accessible via a ladder or wooden stairs. Fireplaces and a lavatory on the third floor show that this building was not just a defensive tower , but also offered living comfort. Presumably it served both to protect the castle gate and as a residential tower . A door in the north wall of the first floor led into the building adjoining to the north, the curtain wall was accessible via a door in the south wall of the second floor. The tower ruins are now roofless to the viewer, but publications from the 1920s still show them with a pyramid roof .

In the area of ​​the former outer bailey, there is now a modern farm. Since it was straightened in the 1930s, the Fleuth no longer flows between this and the tower ruins, but about 100 meters further east.

literature

Web links

Commons : Haus Langendonk  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Theodor Joseph Lacomblet : Document book for the history of the Lower Rhine. Volume 3. J. Wolf, Düsseldorf 1853, No. 955 ( digitized version ).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Entry by Jens Wroblewski about Langendonk's house in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
  3. ↑ a b A. Kaul: Geldrische castles, palaces and mansions. 1976, p. 97.
  4. ↑ M. Büren: Remains of a knight's castle in a border location. 2013 ( online ).
  5. ↑ a b J. Wroblewski, A. Wemmers: Theiss Burgenführer. Lower Rhine. Theiss, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1612-6 , p. 96.
  6. ^ J. Wroblewski, A. Wemmers: Theiss Burgenführer. Lower Rhine. Theiss, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1612-6 , p. 97.

Coordinates: 51 ° 31 '48.7 "  N , 6 ° 23' 27.7"  E