Kalbeck Castle
The Kalbeck Castle is located in the Lower Rhine community Weeze in calf Ecker Forst. The current complex probably goes back to a farm that was expanded into a moated castle and was first mentioned in a document in the 14th century under the name Calbeck . The current spelling Kalbeck was not used until 1929.
After the castle was destroyed by fire, the owners at the time, the von Vittinghoff-Schell family , had a new castle built about one kilometer from the original location in 1906 . The buildings were badly damaged during the Second World War , but have been gradually rebuilt to this day. The castle is privately owned and, apart from the rented outer bailey, is mostly inhabited by the owner family. Accordingly, this property is not a destination used for tourism . However, groups can be guided through the gardens and the chapel and library upon request . A direct visit without prior notification is not possible. Church services take place in the castle chapel at regular intervals .
description
The lock
Today's palace complex consists of the manor house to the north , which is joined to the west by a square tower with a bell dome. It represents the rest of the former residential wing in the west.
To the south of the manor house is a two-wing building complex that once housed the castle's economic buildings. A long stone arch bridge leads from its west wing into the restored baroque garden based on the French model. There, four symmetrically laid out beds enclose a circular water basin in their center. In the vicinity is a farm building and a former greenhouse that was renovated into a normal house in 2010. In addition, behind the 0.62 hectare meadow, there is a cemetery of the previous owner and a small trout lake . Next to the large lawn and south of the baroque garden is a large tennis court and a small house with a pool.
Kalbeck operating areas
Rentei Kalbeck
The Rentei Kalbeck is the center of administration Vittinghoff Schell . This is where the threads of all parts of the company come together. These include estate management , forest management , rental and leasing and maintenance of the castle complex.
In addition to the central management who takes care Rentei Kalbeck to use and rental of court and Katstellen in the immediate vicinity as well as the lease of operationally used buildings and agricultural land .
In its history, the administration consisted of agricultural leaseholds and farm workers' houses in the form of Katstellen . With increase in concentration in the agriculture of the Größteil farmed ran tenant farms from. Parallel to this development, with the increase in wage costs on the one hand and the increase in mechanization on the other, the number of employees in the factories decreased. This led to the fact that numerous courtyards and Katstellen were emptied and had to be re-used.
Accordingly, it is now the core task of Rentei Kalbeck to use these buildings in a meaningful and economical way. This is mainly done through renting and leasing.
Forestry company Kalbeck
Since generations in the calf Ecker forests is sustainable forestry operation. The forest operation is divided into the district parts Kalbeck and Nierswalde . The total operating area covers around 875 hectares. Every square meter of this area is under landscape protection and invites nature lovers and those seeking relaxation to linger. About 55% of the total area is forested with softwood and about 45% with hardwood . Basically, only as much is removed from the forest as will grow back.
While the area in Nierswalde represents a single closed area, there are many small parcels in Kalbeck . This is explained by the fact that it is predominantly former farm forest.
In the spring of 1945 , the forest area came under heavy artillery fire in the course of the fighting on the Lower Rhine . This led to severe splinter damage in the trees and thus to a complete devaluation of the old stocks or all stocks over the cultural age.
This war has determined the entire situation of the forest enterprise since then and also in the future. The devalued stocks were consequently driven off and marketed. In a great and admirable action, cultures gradually emerged and were raised over a large area.
Up to 30 types of wood were grown, so that a very diverse forest was created, on almost the entire area now at the age of 40–50 years. The main share is made up of spruce and Douglas fir with a good 20%. This is followed by larch , pine , beech and oak , each with a little over 10%. Only a few splinter stocks are still available with 34 ha and 5,000 m3 of wood. The red alder , birch and poplar on 120 hectares or 14% of the area are also significant . These are mostly on fracture sites. From the time of Lohr indene recovery still exist 36 ha coppice of oaks at the age of about 50-60 years.
This variety of wood species will later allow a skilful reaction to market fluctuations. At the moment the events are completely characterized by the almost uniformly still young stocks. These determine the measures, the predominant thinning and the profit situation through the sale of weak wood. The culture and purification phase is successfully over. The cutting rate itself is around 3 solid cubic meters per hectare.
Kalbeck farm
The farm estate is located next to the former estate "Hovesaat" far from the original water castle Calbeck. This is about one kilometer as the crow flies from today's Kalbeck Castle on the other side of the Boxteler Bahn or L 77 (see also the history of Kalbeck Castle).
The agricultural area covers around 350 hectares. The most important arable crops are potatoes , carrots , peas , French beans , cauliflower , wheat , rape , maize , sugar beet , spelled , green rye and turf . No genetically modified plants or seeds are used.
The company has a long tradition and extensive experience in the production of grass seed and hybrid rape propagation as well as in the cultivation of particularly high-quality baked spelled for good bread and rolls . The company is QS certified and works with the latest technology according to the latest cultivation methods and with the least possible use of pesticides . Natural fertilization is predominantly used for soil fertilization .
Renewable energies in Kalbeck
According to its own statements, the company attaches great importance to sustainability.
That is why they get their electricity from Naturstrom. They also operate two photovoltaic systems and are happy to provide land for the construction of four wind turbines.
Wind turbines
Since the beginning of 2017, there have been four wind turbines in the fields of the estate .
In favor of sustainably generated energy , they provide the stand space.
The wind turbines are the Enercon E-115 systems. The systems have a hub height of 149 meters and a total height of 207 meters. The rotor diameter is 115 meters. The total output of the four plants is 12 MW. The annual electricity production is calculated at 32 million KW per year, with annual fluctuations of up to 20% being assumed. This annual electricity production corresponds to the electricity consumption of approx. 9,000 3-person households. The CO 2 saving is around 15,000 tons compared to generating electricity from natural gas and around 31,000 tons compared to coal. With a per capita consumption in Germany of around 9 tons of CO 2 per year, this corresponds to an annual CO 2 consumption of 1,700 or 3,400 people.
Residents and owners
The first documentary mention of Kalbeck took place in 1326 when Count Rainald II von Geldern “den hoff te Calbeke” to Dirk Loef III. from Kleve to fief . The feudal lordship over Kalbeck later changed repeatedly between the Duchy of Geldern and the Duchy of Kleve , so that different feudal men could be found there.
In 1647, when the Morrien family ruled over the castle and the surrounding courtyards, Kalbeck was raised to the rank of an independent lordship by the Great Elector , which had 187 inhabitants in 1722 and only lost its independence in 1928 when it was incorporated into Weeze. The Morriens came from Westphalia and were raised to the status of imperial barons in 1670 . In the Münsterland they owned, among other things, the rule of Nordkirchen and were also the lords of Lüdinghausen .
The heiress and mistress zu Kalbeck married Friedrich von Vittinghoff-Schell in 1838, whose family had lived at Schellenberg Castle in Essen-Rellinghausen since 1452 , and brought the castle with them into their marriage. After a coal mine shaft was sunk a short distance from Essen Castle at the end of the 19th century and a cable car for transporting coal ran just 100 meters from the castle, the Vittinghoff-Schell family made Kalbeck their main residence.
Kalbeck Castle passed to the Spies von Büllesheim family through the marriage of MJ Freiin von Vittinghof-Schell, the niece of the Mayor of Weez, Felix von Vittinghoff-Schell . Antoinette Freifrau von Elverfeldt -Ulm, born in 2001, has been running the facility . Spies von Büllesheim, and her family lived there.
Building history
Alt-Kalbeck was first mentioned in 1326 , when Count Reinald von Geldern gave "den hoped Calbeke" a fief to Dirk Loef III von Kleve , a nephew of the Kleve Count . This Calbeck (from 1929 spelling: Kalbeck), which was probably initially a courtyard and only expanded into a moated castle in the 14th century , was located opposite today's Gasthaus Jan an de Fähr at the point where the Kalbecker Ley in the Niers flows out.
Two large fires on New Year's Eve in 1799/1800 and one in 1907 severely damaged the facility, and from then on the owners had to live in the outer bailey. Preserved drawings by Cornelis Pronk and his pupil Jan de Beijer from 1731 and 1743 respectively show the old building stock before it was destroyed.
The Kalbeck feudal rule alternates repeatedly between the Duke of Geldern and that of Kleve . Up to the year 1647 there were accordingly various feudal men on Kalbeck. This year, the Lord of Lüdinghausen, called Morrien, received the status of an independent ruler from the Great Elector ( Brandenburg ) over the castle and the surrounding courtyards. Thus Kalbeck became its own rule , which had 187 inhabitants in 1722 and only lost its independence as a municipality in 1928 and became part of the municipality of Weeze .
The Lords of Morrien came from Westphalia , imperial barons since 1670 . Among other things, they owned the north churches in the Münsterland . The heiress and mistress of Kalbeck married Friedrich Frhr in 1838 . v. Vittinghoff called Schell zu Schellenberg , whereby the glory Kalbeck came into the Vittinghoff-Schell family. The family lived since 1452 at Schloss Schellenberg in the south of Essen .
Towards the end of the 19th century , a short distance from Schellenberg Castle, a conveyor shaft was sunk in the middle of the forest , and a cable car that brought the material to the coking plant ran around 100 meters past the house. Thereupon Friedrich Frhr. v. Vittinghoff-Schell, the great-grandfather of the current owner, moved to Kalbeck.
He looked at the ruins of the old castle and decided a kilometer away in the forest to build a new castle , today's Kalbeck. Construction began in 1906 and was completed in 1910 . The architect Herrmann Schaedtler (1857–1931), one of the great architects of historicism , used the Werries Castle near Hamm in Westphalia, built in the 17th century , as a model .
When the von Vittinghoff-Schell family made the decision to move their residence to Kalbeck at the beginning of the 20th century , they no longer wanted to use the ruinous old facility and let them enter the forest one kilometer away from 1906 to 1910 build a new castle in the style of historicism . The plans for this were made by the architect Hermann Schaedtler , for whom the Oberwerries Castle in Hamm , built in the 17th century, served as a model. The new building consisted of two two-wing building units, the manor house with living and representative rooms and the outer bailey as a service wing. The west wings of the two buildings were only separated by today's courtyard entrance, so that the arrangement of the buildings gave the impression of a three-wing complex.
When trying to take the "Fortress Goch", where German troops had holed up, during the Battle of the Reichswald ( Operation Veritable ), the castle was recaptured by Canadian and Scottish troops. By following the effects of war burned in February 1945 , most of the castle from the southern mansion wing most affected and in the post-war period was rebuilt only half. The first floor with the castle chapel and the library was retained, while the rest was converted into a large, open-top hall. The western wing was repaired to meet today's living requirements, but nothing of the building's original furnishings has been preserved. The tower wing was repaired according to today's living requirements and an administration for the residential area and surrounding rental apartments was installed. Nothing is left of the original equipment.
In the course of the reconstruction, the approximately four hectare park was redesigned in 1950. On the garden area to the west of the house, a rose bed was created based on baroque models and opened to the public in 1965. Your symmetrically laid out beds are framed by low box hedges . Until 1997 the "Kalbecker Rosenschau" took place there every year on the first and second Sunday in July, but this had to be stopped as the majority of the roses grew older and withered away. The proceeds were used by the Rhein-Maas Sick Society for the care of the sick and disabled on pilgrimages, especially to Lourdes.
Since 2001 the castle buildings have been gradually renovated and rebuilt. After the work has been completed, they are to be rented. The entire castle grounds are fenced and expressly shown as private at the entrance gate. Access for tourist purposes is not permitted, but the owners offer occasional guided tours.
literature
- Ferdinand GB Fischer : Excursion destinations on the Lower Rhine. Beautiful castles, palaces and moths. 2nd Edition. Pomp, Bottrop 2000, ISBN 3-89355-152-2 , pp. 112-113.
- Gregor Spohr: How nice to dream away here. Castles on the Lower Rhine. Pomp, Bottrop / Essen 2001, ISBN 3-89355-228-6 , pp. 150–151.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kalbeck Castle |. Retrieved March 13, 2020 .
- ↑ Rentei Kalbeck |. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
- ↑ Kalbeck Forestry Company |. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
- ^ Gutsbetrieb Kalbeck |. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
- ↑ POTATOES | Kalbeck farm. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
- ↑ CARROTS | Kalbeck farm. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
- ↑ VEGETABLE PEAS | Kalbeck farm. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
- ↑ BEANS | Kalbeck farm. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
- ↑ WHEAT | Kalbeck farm. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
- ↑ RAPS | Kalbeck farm. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
- ↑ CORN | Kalbeck farm. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
- ↑ DINKEL | Kalbeck farm. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
- ↑ GREEN Rye | Kalbeck farm. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
- ↑ RENEWABLE ENERGY | Kalbeck farm. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
- ↑ E-115. Retrieved March 13, 2020 .
- ^ Municipality of Weeze | Kalbeck Castle. Retrieved July 17, 2019 .
- ↑ HISTORY | Kalbeck Castle. Retrieved March 13, 2020 (German).
Coordinates: 51 ° 40 ′ 29 ″ N , 6 ° 12 ′ 23 ″ E