Benkhausen Castle

Benkhausen Castle 2014

Aerial photo after the renovation in 2013

The Benkhausen Castle is located west of the city Espelkamp belonging local part 's men and north of the Mittellandkanal in the district Minden-Lübbecke . A historical castle park, which was once geometrically structured with the help of avenues, also belongs to the total area of the moated castle , which currently comprises around five hectares . Parts of the old trees, including a copper beech , a Dutch linden and an American walnut, are still preserved in the north-eastern part of the park.

history

The Benkhausen estate was created in 1510 when the Ellerburg estate was divided between the heirs of the von Münch family . The castle was built between 1657 and 1683 and was largely preserved in this form. Philip Münch bequeathed the estate to Philipp Clamor von dem Bussche in 1773 , who took the name from Bussche-Münch . After his death, his son Georg von dem Bussche-Münch inherited the property. His son and heir Clamor Philipp von dem Bussche-Münch died in 1875. After his three children died shortly afterwards, this branch of the family went out in 1878 and the estate was inherited by the Barons von dem Bussche-Ippenburg. The new owner was Karl Freiherr von dem Bussche-Münch (1861–1900), who adopted the name Münch. His only son Alhard (* 1897) had no children and in 1962 sold the Benkhausen manor.

The farm went bankrupt in the late 1920s while the mansion remained with the family.

Married couple Karin and Paul Gauselmann with three sons and granddaughter

The manor house was confiscated by the British occupying forces in 1945 and used as the headquarters of the British Army on the Rhine , from 1952 also as the command post of the British Navy and only returned to the owners in 1955. In 1962, Benkhausen Castle was sold to the Wittekindshof Diaconal Foundation and used as a residential and business premises for people with disabilities until 2009. When structural safety requirements could no longer be met, use was abandoned, which resulted in the property being vacant from 2009. At the end of 2010, the Espelkamp family of entrepreneurs Gauselmann acquired the Benkhausen Castle with all the outbuildings and the park and converted it from 2011 to 2013 into a training center for Gauselmann AG with accommodation options. In addition to seminars, traditional events such as the Christmas market, art week and other cultural events as well as civil weddings continue to take place. The German Machine Museum is housed in a barn in the outer bailey.

Manor district of Benkhausen

Around 1856, an estate district of Benkhausen, which was treated as a parish, was newly formed by hiving off the parish of Alswede . On October 1, 1928, it was dissolved and incorporated into the then communities of Alswede (main part) and Fabbenstedt .

Renovation details

Pavilion as the center of the palace park

Historic burial place

The overall conversion to a modern training center was divided into several stages. First of all, the mansion was gutted from the basement to the floor, renovated and redesigned. Historic chimneys and stucco work as well as parts of the 500 year old original framework were exposed. With the help of old records and site plans from the 18th century, the original room layout was restored. In a second construction phase, the glass connecting building with elevator, reception and training and breakfast room between the manor house and the former “Maidenheim” was realized. The third stage was the structural redesign and furnishing of the hotel complex, the extensive renovation of the barn and furnishings as a museum as well as the redesign of the park and the castle courtyard. The castle park in the north, geometrically laid out according to historical plans, with a huge pavilion in its center, the integration of the Münch's hereditary burial site, are among the areas that were designed to be freely accessible to the public.

In June 2018, an approximately two-kilometer circular hiking trail was opened that leads through the offshore forest and nature-oriented meadows. He crosses a wet biotope ( alder forest ) and twice the renatured stream of the Flöthe . The path leads to the Mittelland Canal and a pier built there .

Todays use

German machine museum and moat

The Schloss Benkhausen training center has eleven conference rooms and 31 hotel rooms and is used by subsidiaries of the Gauselmann Group and other companies for all kinds of events, training courses, conferences and workshops. In the former barn of Benkhausen Castle, the German Machine Museum is also presented with a thematically structured permanent exhibition. The Gauselmann family's private coin-operated collection includes more than 1,800 exhibits and is the largest industry museum in the world.

literature

Heinz Bartocha: Benkhausen Castle in Espelkamp. In: Palaces, castles, mansions in East Westphalia-Lippe. Westfalen-Verlag, Bielefeld 1986, ISBN 3-88918-038-8 , pp. 91-93.
Leopold Schütte: On the history of the manor Benkhausen. In: On Weser and Wiehen. Contributions to the culture and history of a landscape. Festschrift for Wilhelm Brepohl (= Mindener contributions to the history, regional and folklore of the former Principality of Minden. Vol. 20, ZDB -ID 503480-2 ). Mindener Geschichtsverein, Minden 1983, pp. 189-208.
Landesarchiv NRW, Westphalia department, signature: U 102u

Web links

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

Entry by Andreas Kamm zu Benkhausen in the scientific database " EBIDAT " of the European Castle Institute
Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe: Park Schloss Benkhausen in LWL geodata culture
herrenhaeuser-parks-muehlenkreis.de

Individual evidence

↑ schloss-benkhausen.de: Chronicle of the castle. Retrieved March 2, 2016 .

↑ Press release Gauselmann. Archived from the original ; Retrieved April 27, 2014 .

↑ Stephanie Reekers: The regional development of the districts and communities of Westphalia 1817-1967 . Aschendorff, Münster Westfalen 1977, ISBN 3-402-05875-8 , p. 214 .

↑ Schloss Benkhausen circular hiking trail on the Schloss Benkhausen website, accessed on May 31, 2019.

↑ DAM About us . Archived from the original on December 17, 2013 ; accessed on July 15, 2014 .

52.344722222222 8575Coordinates: 52 ° 20 ′ 41 ″ N , 8 ° 34 ′ 30 ″ E

[1] schloss-benkhausen.de: Chronicle of the castle. Retrieved March 2, 2016 .

[2] Press release Gauselmann. Archived from the original ; Retrieved April 27, 2014 .

[3] Stephanie Reekers: The regional development of the districts and communities of Westphalia 1817-1967 . Aschendorff, Münster Westfalen 1977, ISBN 3-402-05875-8 , p. 214 .