Erwitte Castle

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Entrance to Erwitte Castle

Erwitte Castle is located in Erwitte in North Rhine-Westphalia .

history

The former "Horst-Wessel-Halle" (today: Festhalle) from the time of National Socialism. Eagle sculpture by Willy Meller .

Erwitte Castle was first mentioned in a document in 1273. Today's moated castle was built in the early 17th century for Jobst von Landsberg zu Erwitte in the immediate vicinity of the previous buildings. Another former aristocratic estate, the Erwitte house, is located nearby .

In the 19th century the castle passed to the line of the Counts of Landsberg-Velen and Gemen . They sold it to the National Socialist state in 1934. He used it as a Reich training castle for the German Labor Front and the NSDAP . During this time, under the direction of the architect Julius Schulte-Frohlinde , extensive reconstructions of the palace took place. In addition, a number of outbuildings were built.

After the Second World War, a garrison and a children's home were housed on the site. The city of Erwitte bought the castle in 1976. It was later bought by the owner of Haus Füchten , Manfred Green, in order to use it as a hotel since 1999. In 2006 the Feuerhahn family acquired the castle and expanded the hotel into a 4-star hotel. It was resold in early 2014.

architecture

The moated castle was built in the Renaissance style. At its northeast corner is a three-story corner tower. The entrance portal is in the middle of the building. Influences of the Weser renaissance can be felt on the west side through the oriels with ornamental gables. The outside staircase of the baroque portal on the western front was in the axis of a chestnut avenue that was cut down in 1965 and replaced by an avenue of lime trees. In contrast, the construction work that took place in the 1930s largely followed the principles of National Socialist architecture .

literature

  • Willi Mues: The Erwitte Castle: In the middle ... in the local calendar of the Soest district 2009 (pages 65–67) ISBN 978-3-928295-44-4
  • Joseph Lammers: History, Aesthetics and Education - The Reichsschulungsburg in Erwitte . In: Westphalia. History, art and folklore books. Vol. 76. Münster: Aschoff 1998. pp. 216-360.
  • Joseph Lammers: The former Reichsschulungsburg Erwitte 1945-1998 . In: Reified memory: About relics of Nazi architecture. Vol. 2. Weimar: Bauhaus 1999. ISBN 3860681028

Web links

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

Coordinates: 51 ° 36 ′ 56.8 ″  N , 8 ° 20 ′ 27.6 ″  E