Genhoes Castle

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Genhoes Castle, view from the west

The castle Genhoes ( Dutch Kasteel Genhoes , Limburgish Kesjtièl Genhoes ) in the district Alt-Valkenburg of the Limburg city Valkenburg aan de Geul is a moated castle that was built in its current form in the 15th to 18th centuries. It is located in the valley of the Göhl only about 390 meters from Schloss Schaloen .

Initially, the facility was known as Haus Alt-Valkenburg (Dutch: Huis Oud-Valkenburg ). The current name emerged later from the Limburgian Gʼn Hoes (German: the house). For centuries the complex was the seat of the Lords of Valkenburg and their fate was therefore closely linked to its glory in the Middle Ages . From when a permanent house or castle was located at the current location is unclear, but no later than 12/13. In the 19th century there was a residential tower , remains of which have been preserved in today's basement.

Through the von Ghoor family, the complex came to Johann von Strijthagen in the 16th century, who had the castle expanded and converted into a palace . After the native 1701 Lette had acquired George of Tunderfelt, he had to change the building and modernize. His son sold the property in the middle of the 18th century to Leonard Thimus from Aachen , who expanded it to include today's north wing and had a baroque garden laid out. It was from him that it came to his son-in-law from the von Pelser-Berensberg family , who lived in the castle until 1929. 1955 by descendants of Pelser-Berensberg to the dead Vereniging van Natuurmonumenten Behoud (German: Association for the Preservation of natural monuments) sold the castle and its will Vorburg since been used as dwellings for multiple tenants. The property cannot be visited, but it is clearly visible from the street.

history

Beginnings in the Middle Ages

A predecessor of today's castle is probably the cradle of Valkenburg. In 1041 the land around Alt-Valkenburg was first mentioned in a document when the later Emperor Heinrich III. On February 15, he gave his relatives Irmgardis goods there, including the "villa Falkenberch". Irmgardis' granddaughter Guda married Theobald von Voeren, who was the first Herr von Valkenburg to be known by name. In 1241 the name Alt-Valkenburg first appeared in a document in which the knight Gerardus de Aldenvalkinburgh was named as a witness. In 1279 Adam II von Haeren and Hen (d) ric von Birclaer divided the rule of Alt-Valkenburg among themselves. This division lasted for over 100 years, because in 1381 the "hoff" in Alt-Valkenburg belonged to Johann van Hulsberg and Johann van Aldenvalckenborch. They had received the rule as a fiefdom from the Brabant Duchess Johanna . Only a short time later, Johann van Aldenvalckenborch brought the entire estate into his possession. At that time, however, the "hoff" not only consisted of unfortified manor buildings , but also included a residential tower.

Expansion in the early modern period

Alt-Valkenburg on the map by Jacob van Deventer

In 1444, Alt-Valkenburg was owned by Jan von Zievel . His heir, Johanna from her marriage to Maria von Weismes, married Heinrich I von Ghoor, Lord von Eys, and brought him the property. His son Johann succeeded him in 1475. After his death in 1506, Johann's brothers Gerhard and Wilhelm followed as lords of Alt-Valkenburg. With Wilhelm's death in 1534, his nephew Hermann (a son of Johann von Ghoors) inherited the rule and estate. In 1535 he transferred it to Johann I von Strijthagen, the husband of his sister Maria. The complex, which was the center of the rule at that time, is shown on a map made by Jacob van Deventer between 1535 and 1546. It shows a large house with at least two towers that stand on a square island surrounded by a wide moat . They were accessible via an arch bridge. Johann von Strijthagen had this complex converted into a castle between 1545 and 1560 . The associated farm buildings were also changed under him. In an income and expenditure register created later, it is noted that the construction work on the outer bailey alone cost 46,000  guilders . In 1556, Johann von Strijthagen bought King Philip II as his liege lord, the last remaining power of rule, the high jurisdiction, and thus released Alt-Valkenburg from its feudal dependence on the Spanish royal family (Alt-Valkenburg was then part of the Spanish Netherlands ).

After Johann's death in 1560, his son Johann II succeeded him as lord of the castle. When he died in 1571, his sister Maria inherited the property, who was married to Nicolaus von Breyll for the first time. During her time as mistress of the castle, Alt-Valkenburg suffered from the Eighty Years' War . Spanish troops looted the complex and started a fire that severely damaged the castle and outer bailey. After the end of the war, Maria and her husband began reconstruction work, for which they invested 1,700 guilders. After Nicolaus' death, Maria von Strijthagen married Melchior von Zievel in 1593. It is thanks to the list of income and expenses of Alt-Valkenburg that he created that it is known who was the builder of the castle at that time. The reason for the installation was a legal dispute with the descendants of Hermann von Ghoor, who had sued against the transfer of ownership in 1535 and who were finally right. In 1592, a judgment ruled that the von Strijthagen family had to return Alt-Valkenburg to Hermann von Ghoors son Henrik. He remained the owner of the castle, which was still in need of repair, until 1605 and was removed from the rest of the grandeur at the end of the 17th century.

Modifications and extensions in the 18th century

Schloss Schaloen (left) and Schloss Genhoes (right) on the Ferraris map from the 1770s

In 1608 Ulrich von Hoensbroech , the heir marshal of Gelderland and Zutphen , acquired Genhoes Castle and rebuilt it. On his death in 1631 he bequeathed it to Daniel, a son from his second marriage to Catharina Spies von Büllesheim . Upon his death, his daughter Gertrude inherited the property and brought him to her husband Charles de Haudion de Gibrechies. Their son Ulrich Hermengilde sold the property in 1701 to General Georg von Tunderfelt, who was in Austrian service . In the same year he also bought Haeren Castle in Voerendaal . Together with his wife Anna Barbara von Lamberts zu Cortenbach , Tunderfelt had changes made to two wings of the building shortly after the purchase. For example, the two-winged entrance door of the east wing and the current window shapes come from his time as lord of the castle. He had the interior of the castle modernized and changed to suit the taste of the time. Many rooms received new stucco ceilings , and Tunderfelt had a monumental baluster staircase installed. After his death in 1743, his son Hermann Georg took over the facility and sold it to the Aachen cloth manufacturer Leonard Thimus (also spelled Thymus) in 1749.

The new owner had Genhoes completely changed from 1751. Probably what was in a ruinous state at that time was laid under him, for example a square storm on the southeast corner and possibly also an east wing that was still standing at that time. In addition, Thimus had the late Gothic west wing repaired and modernized, among other things by installing new windows, putting on a new roof and laying new parquet inside, as well as paneling with carved decorations. At the same time, today's north wing was built on older foundations, for which the Aachen builder Johann Joseph Couven probably provided the plans. There is no tangible evidence of Couven's authorship, the assignment has so far been based on stylistic matches with other secured Couven projects and the use of the same materials. There is also evidence that the native of Aachen was working on the neighboring parish church of Alt-Valkenburg at the same time , and some draft drawings for pillars have been preserved from him, such as those erected in Genhoes. Thimus had the converted castle completed by creating a baroque garden between the inner and outer moats. This should also have been planned by Couven.

The Pelser-Berensberg family as owner of the castle

Illustration of the castle on a watercolor by J. Lefebure, ca.1840

After the construction work was completed in 1754, Thimus transferred the property to his son-in-law Johann Friedrich Pelser (also written as Peltzer ), who was married to Thimus' daughter Katharina Theresia. From 1747 he also owned Berensberg Castle in what is now the Herzogenrath district of Kohlscheid, and in 1766 he was raised to the imperial nobility by Emperor Joseph II . He had the old outer bailey completely renovated before the property passed to his son Leonard von Pelser-Berensberg after his death in 1771. In 1824 he had trees planted in what is now the south garden, but not in the style of the English landscape gardens popular at the time , but in the bosket style . After the early death of Leonard's son Johann in 1834, the grandson Hubert Maria Felix von Pelser-Berensberg inherited the castle when he was only ten years old. When he died in 1907, he left it to his four daughters, of whom the two unmarried Constanze and Maria used it as their residence until 1922 and 1929 respectively. From then until 1940 it only served as the summer residence of the families of Hubert Maria Felix's two other daughters, Eugenie, married von Liebergen, and Pauline, married Michiels. After necessary repairs, descendants of the two sisters from the Dankelmann and Huygen families moved into the castle and lived there until 1951.

Development since 1951

Genhoes Castle in July 1950

From 1951 the Krijnen brothers from Utrecht rented the castle building and operated an antique trade and a museum there until 1965. In 1955, the Vereniging tot Behoud van Natuurmonumenten acquired the 88-  hectare complex for 440,000 guilders and has since rented the outer bailey as apartments. In the main castle, the Krijnen brothers were leased by the painter William Halewein. After moving out in 1975, the castle stood empty for a few years before Laurens Bisscheroux moved in in 1979 and also used it as a painting studio. After he moved out in 1985, the facility stood empty again for a few years before the painter August Leenert van Dijk and his wife moved in in August 1988. Starting in 1997, they had the garden parterre, which had meanwhile been completely overgrown, restored to the east of the castle and part of the gradually silted up or filled in outer moat reconstructed. The preserved part of the moat was dredged in 1998. Numerous finds from the 16th to 19th centuries came to light, including the soles of leather shoes (16th and 17th centuries), pieces of cutlery (18th and 19th centuries), a brass tinder box (around 1850) and wick scissors from the period between 1580 and 1650. During the excavation work, the foundations of the former southeast tower were found, which had probably been removed under Leonard Thimus to below the water edge of the trench.

In 2007 the farm buildings in the outer bailey were extensively renovated . On the occasion of this work, an accompanying archaeological investigation took place in the outer bailey in November 2007 . Foundations of older buildings and a layer of charcoal and burnt clay were found under today's buildings from the 18th century, which indicates a fire. With the help of the C14 analysis , the coal residues could be dated between 1430 and 1630, which points to the traditional arson during the Eighty Years' War. Further finds were forged nails and iron objects, a Liard from Liège between 1694 and 1723 and various pottery shards from the 17th to 18th centuries.

description

architecture

Main castle

Main building, view from the northeast

The castle, which is surrounded by a moat measuring around 90 × 90 meters, is a two-wing complex, the wings of which rise on an L-shaped floor plan. At the northwest corner of the L there is a massive corner tower from around 1500. The current appearance of the building is the result of new constructions, extensions and renovations from the 15th to 18th centuries.

The two-storey residential wing on the west side of a slated pitched roof finished and still holds the original Traufgesims with Dreipassornamentik bow and fries on corbels from the late Gothic period. Possibly it dates from the late 15th century. A similar frieze can be found on Rivieren Castle , which was built in 1538. Its masonry consists - like the adjoining corner tower - of marl and ends in a stepped gable on the southern face . On the outside, in the lower area above the water level, it has three strips of brick that continue on all sides of the adjoining corner tower. Closely spaced loopholes show that this part of the castle also had a defensive function in the early days.

Main castle, view from the southeast

The massive square tower on the north-west corner has three more floors above its high basement, which are closed off by a bent, slate-covered helmet . Its onion-shaped end bears a weather vane with the year 1620 and probably documents the year of repair work or the replacement of an emergency roof with today's helmet.

The design of the strikingly low north wing in the Baroque style is very different from the rest of the palace. The masonry of this wing is made of brick, while the front sides are made of hewn marl. The arched entrance gate is located in the middle of its outer facade . It can be reached from the outer bailey via a six-arched stone bridge, which was built in the 16th century at the latest. The gate is framed from bluestone , above which there is a volute gable . This is flanked by two vases and crowned by a similar vase. Its pediment has a small segmented arched window , above which the viewer sees an alliance coat of arms, which is surrounded by acanthus . Up until 1830 the entrance wing was designed strictly symmetrically, but was then extended to the east by a few meters, thus destroying its symmetry. The gate passage leads to the rectangular courtyard. It was designed as a garden under the von Pelser-Berensberg family of owners, but nothing has survived today. The two-winged entrance door in the west wing of the palace, built around 1701, can be reached from the terrace-like courtyard. The courtyard area is bordered on its east and south sides by a stone balustrade that dates back to around 1700. In the middle of the east balustrade is a small balcony with a wrought iron grille on which two allegorical putti stand. They represent America and winter.

Outer bailey

West wing of the outer bailey

To the north of the main castle are the farm buildings of the outer bailey. Its three whitewashed brick wings form a U-shaped floor plan that is open to the main castle. The building complex is already shown on the Deventer map from the 16th century, but today's buildings are younger. The oldest part is located in the west wing and dates from between 1701 and 1748. The other buildings can be dated from 1749 to 1770. The foundations of previous buildings found during an excavation could be the remains of the outer bailey built by Johann von Strijthagen in the 16th century, of which nothing has survived above ground today. The western wing is in two parts and consists of a two-storey building with a gable roof and pan roofing and a single-storey building adjoining it to the north. The north wing is symmetrical and has a round arched gate in the middle of the courtyard. The area around the gate is designed lower than the adjoining parts of the building to the west and east with two storeys and mansard roofs. The eastern wing of the outer bailey, like its western counterpart, consists of two different looking parts. The north of them is a short, low building, followed by a much longer and taller building to the south. It is a former barn with two arched gates. Although different in height, both parts of the east wing have two floors. At the southern end of the former barn, a two-story house is added to the east.

The outer bailey area can be entered on the west side through a gate made of marl stones. It was built around 1760 based on a design by Johann Joseph Couvens. The arched gate is flanked by two rusticated pillars with a vase crown. A round arched gable sits above the cornice of the gate, which also has a vase at the top. The building is designed in a similar way to the gate system of Lemiers Castle, around twelve kilometers away .

inside rooms

Hall on the ground floor

The oldest building structure of the castle can be found in the barrel-vaulted cellar of the west wing. The area there used to have a cross vault , which is no longer preserved. However, the corbels on which the ribs of the vault once rested are still in situ . They come from the 12th / 13th centuries. Century and are the rest of a Romanesque residential tower.

Inside, a large oak staircase with a baluster railing from the beginning of the 18th century and some stucco ceilings in the style of the Louis equatorze have been preserved. The large hall on the ground floor of the west wing is said to have been designed according to plans by Johann Joseph Couvens. It is equipped with parquet and oak paneling. His most conspicuous piece of furniture is a marble fireplace in the Louis-quinze style, the print of which shows a painting depicting the goddess Diana .

Gardens

Genhoes Castle today has two preserved gardens: the eastern garden parterre (also called the eastern garden) and the landscaped southern garden to the south of the moat. A third, former kitchen garden to the east of the outer bailey is no longer preserved. Its area is now formally designed with lawns and shaped hedges and takes up the former, geometric division of the garden.

Both gardens that have been preserved were probably built around 1750 according to plans by Johann Joseph Couvens. Over the years the east parterre gradually became overgrown and was reconstructed in its current baroque form from 1997. It is divided into four parts by two straight paths. At the intersection of the two paths in the center of the garden there was probably a statue of Hercules from the first quarter of the 18th century, which can now be found in the south garden. She used to look in the direction of an orangery in the northwest corner of the garden, which is no longer preserved . It was built around the same time as the garden and was replaced by a new building at the end of the 19th century. After the building was ruined in the 1950s, the owners had it demolished in the 1960s. The north side of the garden is bordered by a wall, in the middle of which there is the entrance to the garden in the form of a lattice gate.

Hercules fountain

In 1824 Leonard von Pelser-Berensberg laid the foundation for today's south garden when he planted trees in the 50 × 75 meter area. The year is passed down through the inscription on a stone slab. The majority of the trees still growing there today come from this planting, which was based on a geometric design from the 18th century. You can find beeches , wing nuts , false beeches , plane trees and maple trees there . The horse chestnuts that also grow there are of a younger age. In the line of sight, which begins in the gate passage of the north wing, there is a round water basin made of marl in the south garden, the border of which ends just above ground level. It dates from the 18th century and thus from the time the garden was first established. In the middle of the basin, which is no longer filled with water, stands a terracotta statue of Hercules on a square base in the Régence style , which probably once stood on the east ground floor. Eight linden trees used to stand around the Hercules Fountain, only two of them have survived today. The same applies to four yews that were left over from a second planting ring around the water basin.

At the north edge of the south garden is a (largely reconstructed) ice cellar , the foundation of which is made of field fire bricks from the first half of the 19th century. It has the shape of an igloo and is covered with a layer of earth for insulation. A facade made of hewn marl stones is placed in front of the dome. Another building is in the northwest corner of the south garden. It is a brick garden pavilion . The building from the 18th century now has one storey covered by a mansard roof. The pavilion used to have one more storey and was plastered on the inside .

literature

  • Marcel Bauer u. a .: On the way in Couven's footsteps. Grenz-Echo Verlag, Eupen 2005, ISBN 90-5433-187-9 , pp. 239-241.
  • M. Th. Van Dijk-Franx: Genhoes en de Tuin of the Hesperides. In: Stichting Historische en Heemkundige Studies (Hrsg.): Historische en heemkundige studies in en rond het Geuldal. Jaarboek. Volume 15. Valkenburg aan de Geul 2005, ISBN 90-74428-15-0 , pp. 31-66.
  • M. Th. Van Dijk-Franx: Het middeleeuws kasteel Genhoes te Oud-Valkenburg. In: Stichting Historische en Heemkundige Studies (Hrsg.): Historische en heemkundige studies in en rond het Geuldal. Jaarboek. Volume 16. Valkenburg aan de Geul 2006, ISBN 90-74428-16-9 , pp. 177-191.
  • Wim Hupperetz, Ronald Rommes, Ben Olde Meierink (eds.): Kastelen in Limburg. Burchten en landhuizen (1000-1800). Matrijs, Utrecht 2005, ISBN 90-5345-269-9 , pp. 380-382.
  • BJ Moonen, JAM Roymans: Renovatie Kasteelhoeve Genhoes. In: Heemkundvereniging Schin op Geul. No. 34, November 2008, pp. 1–10 ( PDF ; 480 kB).
  • Manfred Nimax: Moated castles and aristocratic residences in Dutch South Limburg between Aachen and Maastricht. Nimax, Aachen 2008, ISBN 978-3-936342-71-0 , pp. 34-39.
  • Ronald Stenvert, Chris Kolman, Saskia van Ginkel-Meester, Sabine Broekhoven, Elisabeth Stades-Vischer: Monuments in Nederland. Limburg. Uitgeverij Waanders, Zwolle 2003, ISBN 90-400-9623-6 , pp. 287-288 ( online ).
  • Frans Vanmeulebrouk: Genhoes. In: Heemkundvereniging Schin op Geul. No. 25, May 2004, pp. 15-21 ( PDF ; 328 KB).

Web links

Commons : Genhoes Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Marcel Bauer u. a .: On the way in Couven's footsteps. 2005, p. 239.
  2. ↑ Wim Hupperetz, Ronald Rommes, Ben Olde Meierink (ed.): Kastelen in Limburg. Burchten en landhuizen (1000-1800). 2005, pp. 380-381.
  3. ↑ a b c M. Th. Van Dijk-Franx: Het middeleeuws kasteel Genhoes te Oud-Valkenburg. 2006, p. 188.
  4. ↑ According to Wim Hupperetz, Ronald Rommes, Ben Olde Meierink (ed.): Kastelen in Limburg. Burchten en landhuizen (1000-1800). 2005, p. 381. According to Frans Vanmeulebrouk's article on Genhoes, Jan vonZievel was the first to reunite rule in 1444. See Frans Vanmeulebrouk: Genhoes. 2004, p. 16.
  5. ^ A b c B. J. Moonen, JAM Roymans: Renovatie Kasteelhoeve Genhoes. 2008, p. 8.
  6. ↑ a b c d Wim Hupperetz, Ronald Rommes, Ben Olde Meierink (eds.): Kastelen in Limburg. Burchten en landhuizen (1000-1800). 2005, p. 381.
  7. ↑ The information on the exact time of the fire fluctuates between 1575 and 1579. The years 1578 and 1579 are the most likely, because at that time Spanish troops marched through Limburg under the leadership of the Duke of Parma . See BJ Moonen, JAM Roymans: Renovatie Kasteelhoeve Genhoes. 2008, p. 9.
  8. ↑ Frans Vanmeulebrouk: Genhoes. 2004, p. 16.
  9. ^ AG Schulte: Johann Joseph Couven in South Limburg. Appreciated and mentioned, chosen and desired. In: Museumsverein Aachen (Ed.): Aachener Kunstblätter. Volume 63. Cologne DuMont 2006, ISBN 3-8321-7747-7 , pp. 55–68, here p. 58.
  10. ↑ a b M. Th. Van Dijk-Franx: Het middeleeuws kasteel Genhoes te Oud-Valkenburg. 2006, p. 47.
  11. ^ M. Th. Van Dijk-Franx: Het middeleeuws kasteel Genhoes te Oud-Valkenburg. 2006, p. 186.
  12. ^ AG Schulte: Johann Joseph Couven in South Limburg. Appreciated and mentioned, chosen and desired. In: Museumsverein Aachen (Ed.): Aachener Kunstblätter. Volume 63. Cologne DuMont 2006, ISBN 3-8321-7747-7 , pp. 55–68, here pp. 58–59.
  13. ^ M. Th. Van Dijk-Franx: Het middeleeuws kasteel Genhoes te Oud-Valkenburg. 2006, p. 31.
  14. ↑ Frans Vanmeulebrouk: Genhoes. 2004, p. 18.
  15. ↑ a b c M. Th. Van Dijk-Franx: Het middeleeuws kasteel Genhoes te Oud-Valkenburg. 2006, p. 53.
  16. ^ M. Th. Van Dijk-Franx: Het middeleeuws kasteel Genhoes te Oud-Valkenburg. 2006, p. 189.
  17. ↑ Frans Vanmeulebrouk: Genhoes. 2004, p. 19.
  18. ↑ Frans Vanmeulebrouk: Genhoes. 2004, p. 20.
  19. ↑ Frans Vanmeulebrouk: Genhoes. 2004, p. 21.
  20. ^ M. Th. Van Dijk-Franx: Het middeleeuws kasteel Genhoes te Oud-Valkenburg. 2006, pp. 61-62.
  21. ↑ Doeke Krikke, L. Emmen: Archaeological Vondsten uit de gracht van kasteel Genhoes te Oud-Valkenburg. In: Historische en Heemkundige Studies in en rond het Geuldal. Jaarboek 2006. Volume 16. Stichting Historische en Heemkundige Studies, Valkenburg aan de Geul 2006, pp. 192–208.
  22. ↑ BJ Moonen, JAM Roymans: Renovatie Kasteelhoeve Genhoes. 2008, p. 3, 10.
  23. ^ A b c B. J. Moonen, JAM Roymans: Renovatie Kasteelhoeve Genhoes. 2008, p. 7.
  24. ↑ Genhoes Castle in the Index for Dutch Castles and Palaces , accessed on January 22, 2020.
  25. ↑ Entry of the castle in the national list of monuments of the Netherlands , accessed on January 22, 2020.
  26. ↑ Ronald Stenvert et al. a .: Monuments in Nederland. Limburg. 2003, p. 287.
  27. ↑ Wim Hupperetz, Ronald Rommes, Ben Olde Meierink (ed.): Kastelen in Limburg. Burchten en landhuizen (1000-1800). 2005, p. 382.
  28. ↑ Entry of the Schlossbrücke in the national list of monuments of the Netherlands , accessed on January 22, 2020.
  29. ↑ Marcel Bauer u. a .: On the way in Couven's footsteps. 2005, p. 240.
  30. ^ M. Th. Van Dijk-Franx: Het middeleeuws kasteel Genhoes te Oud-Valkenburg. 2006, p. 37.
  31. ↑ Ronald Stenvert et al. a .: Monuments in Nederland. Limburg. 2003, p. 288.
  32. ↑ a b c Marcel Bauer u. a .: On the way in Couven's footsteps. 2005, p. 241.
  33. ↑ Entry of garden decorations in the national list of monuments of the Netherlands , accessed on January 22, 2020.
  34. ^ M. Th. Van Dijk-Franx: Het middeleeuws kasteel Genhoes te Oud-Valkenburg. 2006, p. 42.
  35. ^ M. Th. Van Dijk-Franx: Het middeleeuws kasteel Genhoes te Oud-Valkenburg. 2006, p. 45.
  36. ^ M. Th. Van Dijk-Franx: Het middeleeuws kasteel Genhoes te Oud-Valkenburg. 2006, p. 56.

Coordinates: 50 ° 51 '19.7 "  N , 5 ° 51' 22.3"  E