Hertefeld House

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House Hertefeld today

The Hertefeld building , today consisting of a ruined castle and a pension building including a park, is located in the center of the municipality of Weeze in North Rhine-Westphalia . It goes back to a knight's seat from the 14th century.

Residents and owners

The Hertefeld House was first mentioned as a knight's seat in 1322. It is obvious, however, that the family of the same name had resided there for much longer, as a Theodoricus de Hertevelde was mentioned in a document as early as 1179.

In the 14th century, Haus Hertefeld was the center of an independent rule , but independence was lost in the following years due to an ever closer bond with the County of Kleve . Wilhelm von Hertefeld sold the manor including the house in 1322 to Count Dietrich VII. Von Kleve. In 1358 the lords of Hertefeld , namely Johan von Hertefeld, received the house and the lordship back as a Klevian fief .

The Hertefeld pension building (2005)

When his descendant Stephan IV died in 1485, the family was divided into two lines by his two sons. While the older line under Stephen VI. acquired the Kolk house in Uedem through marriage , the younger line under Heinrich remained in the possession of the Hertefeld house. Heinrich's grandson Arnd von Hertefeld, who owned the house from 1585, made it available to the secret, reformed community of Weeze for church services.

With Arnd's son Johan Elbert von und zu Hertefeld, the family branch died out. Before his death, Johan Elbert had mortgaged the property to his stepbrother Elbert von Steenhaus in 1637. When this got into financial difficulties, his relative, Jobst Gerhard von Hertefeld zum Kolk, acquired Hertefeld and thus reunited the ownership of the two family lines. At that time, the Hertefelds' extensive possessions included Uedem and Weeze as well as Boetzelaer Castle , Hönnepel Castle, Kervenheim Castle and Zelem Castle .

Jobst Gerhard's father had acquired the Liebenberg property in the Mark Brandenburg through good relationships with the Brandenburg Elector Friedrich Wilhelm and then made it his family's main residence. His nephew, Samuel von und zu Hertefeld was of Frederick I in the realm baron conditions applicable. The Prussian king always stayed at Hertefeld during his inspection trips to the Lower Rhine, but was not the only prominent guest in Weeze. Tsar Alexander I has also stayed there.

With Freiherr Karl von und zu Hertefeld , the male line died out in 1867, so that the property fell to his great-niece Alexandrine. She was married to Philipp Conrad Graf zu Eulenburg and brought Hertefeld into the family of the Counts zu Eulenburg . Alexandrine and her son Philipp received permission from the Emperor in 1898 to additionally use the title of baron.

That Philip was a duo friend and close advisor to Kaiser Wilhelm II , who elevated him to the rank of prince in 1900 . Through a title of count - conferred by the Swedish king - the heads of the families called themselves from then on "Prince of Eulenburg and Hertefeld, Count of Sandels". Only a few years later, Philipp made headlines when he came into the field of fire of the influential publicist Maximilian Harden in the Harden-Eulenburg affair . He had to defend himself against allegations of homosexuality in several trials, but was never convicted.

Alexandrine's second son, Botho Sigwart , was the first family member to live in Hertefeld again for a long time. There he composed the opera The Songs of Euripides , which premiered in 1915 at the Royal Court Theater in Stuttgart .

Since Liebenberg Castle was expropriated at the end of World War II as part of the so-called land reform , the princely family returned to Hertefeld on the Lower Rhine . The facility is still in their possession today.

Building history

The castle ruins during the restoration (2005)
The remaining ruin

The Hertefeld monument ensemble today consists of the partially rebuilt castle ruins, the preserved pension building and the guard houses in a park of around five hectares. The former farm yard and a small zoo are located on the property.

Archaeological finds show that the area has been used since the 13th century. The predecessor of today's castle ruins, which in all probability was a residential tower or a castle house, was built in the 14th century. Around 1500 a gable-independent extension was built, the upper floor of which formed a representative hall almost six meters high.

Around 1600 the core building from the 14th century was replaced by a gate tower with miniature key notches.

Samuel von und zu Hertefeld gave the facility its present-day basic form through modifications and extensions. In 1700 he had the main house redesigned into a baroque castle and in 1706 the pension building was built. A symmetrical counterpart to this was considered, but not implemented. The main building received two side wings with hipped roofs , and the three-story, risalit-like projecting gate tower was given a baroque hood. The tower was flanked on both sides by small stair towers. Function rooms were set up on the ground floor, while the mezzanine floor accommodated living rooms - all with a fireplace - with three-meter-high windows. A baroque garden in the French style was laid out on the north side of the area. The mansion was on all sides by moats surrounded and can only be reached via a wooden bridge while on a Vorinsel the irregularly shaped outer bailey was.

The changes that followed in later times were only marginal or served to maintain the complex. In the first third of the 18th century, the gate tower received narrow side turrets. At the same time, the large, uneconomical windows on the upper floor of the main house were made smaller.

From 1904, Prince Philipp began renovating the complex. The building was heated by steam, the gate tower was given a flight of stairs , and two guard houses were built on the north side of the park.

In February 1945 the castle was burned down in the chaos of war. The Rentei was also badly damaged, but was made habitable again in 1946 by Prince Friedrich-Wend. The moats, which had been silted up for decades (some of them were already backfilled at the beginning of the 19th century), formed the basis for the new construction of a park in the English landscape style, into which parts of the old French garden were integrated.

House Hertefeld today

Baroque tower dome

From 1998 to 2006 the facility was gradually restored. Following an idea from 1947, the remaining building structure of the castle ruins was examined in the course of a prototype safeguard and partially rebuilt. Both the central wing of the building and the historic main tower were rebuilt. The latter received back in April 2005, based on a drawing by Jan de Beijer from 1734, the replica of his baroque hood, which had been made from ten tons of oak, and at the same time a 280 kilo bronze bell bearing the Hertefelder coat of arms, the year 2004 and the Inscription "God's word remains forever".

The park's once overgrown park has also been restored.

House Hertefeld is still in private family hands. However, the castle ruins, renting agency, guard houses and castle park are available to visitors for overnight stays, events, (civil) weddings and conferences.

literature

Web links

Commons : Haus Hertefeld  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ S. Frankewitz: The Lower Rhine and its castles, palaces, mansions along the Niers , p. 532.

Coordinates: 51 ° 37 ′ 42.5 ″  N , 6 ° 12 ′ 5.5 ″  E