Hague Castle
The Hague Castle is north of the city funds in the district Kleve . Its name is derived from the old German word haeg , which denoted a wood. Despite great destruction in World War II , it can still be recognized today as a once heavily fortified castle complex from the late Middle Ages .
Residents and owners
In 1337 a farm in Ghen Haege is mentioned for the first time, which at that time was owned by Konrad von Issum. 26 years later there are even reports of two farms with the same name that belonged to a Johann von Boedberg.
After Haag came to the county of Geldern in 1382 , the complex belonged to the Hoenselaer house as a sub-loan. At that time, Johann's grandson, also named Johann, was the owner of Haag. He belonged to the influential Geldrian knighthood and acquired the office of hereditary marshal in 1431 .
In direct succession, Haag Castle then passed to Adrian, Cornelius, Adria and again a Cornelius von Boedberg.
When Cornelius died unmarried in 1585, his brother Arnold succeeded him. But he also died in 1613 without leaving any male heirs, and so the castle came to Ulrich, Herr von Hoensbroek , who was married to Johanna von Boedberg, Arnold and Cornelius' sister.
Ulrich's son Adrian took over the property, including the hereditary marshal's office, in 1618. His son, Arnold Adrian, was the ambassador of King Charles II of Spain , who elevated him to the rank of marquis in 1675 for his services .
After Arnold Adrian, another eleven generations of the Hoensbroech family followed, ruling over Haag Castle. At the end of the 18th century it replaced Hoensbroek Castle as the family seat. It is still in the possession of the Imperial Counts von und zu Hoensbroech today.
In the course of its long history, the buildings have seen many prominent visitors. Frederick the Great was one of them, as was Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte , who visited the complex on September 12, 1804. In 1814, Tsar Alexander I was a guest, and in 1863 King Wilhelm I stayed there on the occasion of Geldern's 150-year membership of Prussia .
The buildings
In the 14th century the courtyards were surrounded by forests and swamps. They were gradually expanded by their owners into a well-fortified knight's seat. Today Schloss Haag consists of the former outer bailey and a front courtyard to the north . The former manor house is no longer preserved.
During the Spanish-Dutch war , the then heavily fortified complex suffered from troops billeted there, who plundered it in 1584, partially tore it down and burned the forecourt. In order to avoid further garrisons, the magistrate of the city of Geldern turned to the governor of the Habsburg Netherlands , Alessandro Farnese , at the request of Baron Arnold von Boedberg , with the request to have the fortifications of Haag Castle razed ; with success, because the ramparts were laid down and the fortifications demolished.
Although the castle was marked as a hospital with Red Cross flags, bombing raids by the Allies on February 28, 1945 severely damaged it. Its west wing and the manor house with its valuable art collection were completely destroyed.
In 1967, a reconstruction of the still-preserved ring wall, including battlements and loopholes, took place on the west side , but the manor house was not rebuilt.
The park-like surroundings of the castle go back to gardens from the 17th and 19th centuries.
Outer bailey and forecourt
The basic structure of the outer bailey with its round corner towers and the square gate tower in the southwest probably originates from a single major construction phase in the second half of the 15th century. The gate tower was the former entrance to the castle complex. He has an eight-part buckled helmet over a pointed arched portal . The outer walls of the west and north wings have late medieval loopholes on the ground floor and in the roof truss area . The pointed arches on the inside still bear witness to its former battlement .
The eastern wing of the outer bailey was rebuilt in 1680 as part of a restoration on old foundations. The north portal from 1686 is made of Liège bluestone and has a flat gable in the classical style resting on two columns . It shows the coat of arms of Arnold Adrian von Hoensbroech and his third wife Katharina von Bocholtz and was originally the entrance portal of the manor house. In 1688 the horseshoe-shaped forecourt was built, which, like the outer bailey, consists of a central wing and two wings adjoining each other at right angles.
Mansion
From 1662 to 1664, Arnold Adrian von Hoensbroech had the old two-storey manor house generously rebuilt in the Baroque style, transforming Haag Castle into a representative country estate. In the course of this renovation, a square tower on the southwest side of the house was demolished, the counterpart on the southeast side of which was no longer available at that time. Two projections were placed in front of the front facing the courtyard .
In 1876/77 the main building was restored under the direction of the Cologne master builder Vinzenz von Statz and comprehensively changed in the neo-Gothic style. Statz added an additional floor and replaced the old driveway with a flight of stairs . The old main portal was built in its current location in the outer bailey and replaced by a new one, above which the alliance coat of arms of Arnold Adrian von Hoensbroech and his wife Dorothea Elisabeth von Cottereau was emblazoned.
The interior of the manor house housed, among other things, a ballroom that was used as a dining room and several state apartments. In 1891 the walls of the dining room were still decorated with Flemish tapestries from an Antwerp factory. A large hallway on the second floor also served as a chapel. It was not until 1902 that a separate, single-nave chapel was built between the manor house and the outer bailey on the east side of the complex.
Todays use
The outer bailey is now used by the count's family for residential purposes and is therefore private. A restaurant and offices are located in the outer bailey, while the outside area serves as a golf course.
The courtyard of the outer bailey is open to visitors.
literature
- Rien van den Brand, Stefan Frankewitz (Hrsg.): The finding aid for the archives Schloss Haag. Introduction - Regesta - Seal - Register. Geldern / Goch 2008 ( Geldrisches Archiv 10th Stichting Historie Peel-Maas-Niersgebied . No. 20).
- Paul Clemen (Ed.): The art monuments of the district of Geldern (= The art monuments of the Rhine Province . Volume 1, Section 2). Schwann, Düsseldorf 1891, pp. 166–170 ( PDF ; 63 MB).
- Ferdinand GB Fischer : Excursion destinations on the Lower Rhine. Beautiful castles, palaces and moths. Pomp , Bottrop 2000, ISBN 3-89355-152-2 , pp. 24-25.
- Gregor Spor: How nice to dream away here. Castles on the Lower Rhine . Pomp, Bottrop, Essen 2001, ISBN 3-89355-228-6 , pp. 38-39.
- Jens Wroblewski, André Wemmers: Theiss-Burgenführer Niederrhein . Konrad Theiss , Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1612-6 , pp. 60-61 .
Web links
- Website of the golf club Schloss Haag with castle history
- Haag Castle in the Alexander Duncker Collection (PDF file; 209 kB)
Coordinates: 51 ° 32 ′ 5.4 ″ N , 6 ° 19 ′ 13 ″ E