Ossenberg Castle

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Ossenberg Castle
Castle chapel in front of Ossenberg Castle

The Schloss Ossenberg , also home Ossenberg called, is a Lower Rhine castle in Rheinberger district Ossenberg . The listed building stands on the western bank of a dry arm of the old Rhine . Mentioned for the first time in 1176, the fortifications at that time came into the hands of the von Wevorden family during the 14th century, who remained lords of Ossenberg for over three centuries . In the first quarter of the 18th century, Count Karl Ludwig Truchseß von Waldburg had the old complex torn down and the present castle built before he sold the property to Ludolf von der Rhoer in 1746. By marrying an heir's daughter, Ossenberg came to the Berghe von Trips family in 1857, whose descendants are still the owners today. You have been running a small hotel there since 2004.

history

Ossenberg was first mentioned in a document in 1176. Initially a Frankish royal estate, it probably came from imperial possession to Kurköln , which gave it to a Vogt as a fief . The glory of Ossenberg was, however, controversial for a long time; both Kurköln and the Counts of Moers claimed it for themselves. The first known owners of Ossenberg came from a noble family of the same name . After Otto von Ossenberg died in 1350, his widow Margarethe was enfeoffed with the property by Count Friedrich I of Moers . She married Arnt von Wevorden (also Wevort) for the second time and gave him the predecessor of today's castle. Arnt came from an old Lower Rhine family that first appeared in documents in 1380.

For over 300 years, the von Wervorden family remained in the possession of Ossenberg, which in the 14th century consisted only of the well-fortified family residence and a hamlet. In 1636, in addition to the castle, only five larger courtyards and 23 Katstätten belonged to the rule. And not even all of these were inhabited and cultivated. The family pledged the Ossenberg house several times, but from the beginning of the 17th century the debt increased more and more - also due to the Thirty Years War - so that Ossenberg had to be sold at the beginning of the 18th century.

The new lord of Ossenberg was the Utrecht canon Thomas Brauwart, who was enfeoffed on January 8, 1701. In the following time the castle changed hands twice in quick succession: Count Karl Ludwig Truchsess von Waldburg-Capustigall followed Count Johann Christoph von Wylich and Lottum . The latter had the old buildings demolished and the current castle rebuilt around 1721. In 1746 he sold the property and the lands belonging to it to Ludolf von der Rhoer (also written by von der Ruhr), a rich Catholic merchant from Rheinberg, who had previously been councilor and mayor there. He had conversions carried out inside and the interior furnishings changed. For example, the oak paneling still preserved today in the northern part of the castle comes from him. He also had the ruins of the palace chapel , located south of the palace, rebuilt in 1746. It should not only be available to the Catholic community for church services, but also serve as a hereditary burial for the von der Rhoer family. In Ludolfs conversions in the castle inside the far for fell Protestant used worship hall continues, the Lutheran congregation , however, successfully fought for in 1748 the right to three times a year the Catholic chapel to be allowed to use them for their services. The small church thus became a Simultaneum .

Ludolf von der Rhoers heirs were his two sons Johann Theodor and Caspar Anton. The latter was raised to the baron status on October 30, 1783 by Frederick the Great . During his time as lord of the castle, the French Empress Marie-Louise of Austria , Napoleon's wife , paid a visit to Ossenberg in September 1811. At that time the areas on the left bank of the Rhine were under French rule and the nobility had lost their privileges. The von der Rhoer family provided the mayor of Mairie Ossenberg, established in 1800 . Even after Ossenberg was slammed into Prussia by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 , the mayors came from the family of the Ossenberg castle lords. When Caspar Anton von der Rhoer died on January 13, 1802, he was followed by his son Carl from his marriage to Maria Ignatia von Wevelinghoven zu Wolfskuhlen . He became district administrator of the Rheinberg district, founded in 1816, and died on January 20, 1823. His brother Heinrich Cornelius Balthasar succeeded as owner of Ossenberg Castle. With his death on October 24, 1824, the von der Rhoer family died out in the male line. The two heirs divided up the family property, with the younger Albertine receiving the castle in Ossenberg.

Lithograph of the castle, 1875–1877

Albertine married Otto Maximilian Josef Clemens Berghe zu Trips (1821–1882) on March 12, 1857 and brought the castle to his family. The eldest son from this connection, Luitpold Albert Maximilian Otto (1858–1938), succeeded his father in 1882 as Herr von Ossenberg. When, in the first quarter of the 19th century, the castle chapel became much too small for the almost 1,000 Ossenberg Catholics, a south aisle was added to the church building in spring 1923 . The inauguration took place on January 17, 1924, the day of the patronage festival of St. Anthony . When he died, Luitpold Berghe von Trips was unmarried and all of his siblings had died before him. That is why the plant was inherited by Count Clemens Berghe von Trips (1908–1992). He was a relative of the count's family line , which had its seat at Hemmersbach Castle in Kerpen- Horrem . He had to witness how his castle was badly damaged in an air raid on March 26, 1942 during the Second World War . The southern wing was completely destroyed, whereby not only the valuable interior but also the archive was lost. Worst of all, however, was the death of Clemens' Aunt Maria, who died in the attack along with two domestic workers. After the end of the war, Clemens Graf Berghe von Trips began with the reconstruction, for the financing of which he had to sell a lot of land. The approximately 550 acres of land that belonged to the castle in the 1950s  are now reduced to 350 acres (90  hectares ). The mansion was rebuilt by 1959, and the gate tower was restored in 1963 .

The well-known racing driver Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips should have inherited Ossenberg Castle, but he had a fatal accident in September 1961. The lord of the castle therefore adopted his niece Karen von Brauchitsch , who married Wilhelm Albert Herzog von Urach on February 1, 1992 at Rimburg Castle . In the same year, the couple inherited the Ossenberg property and carried out extensive restoration work on the complex from 1998 to 2004 . As early as 1994, the lady of the castle was involved in the reconstruction of the castle chapel, which had fallen into disrepair since the 1960s. Because her family could not do the restoration financially on their own, the "Association for the Preservation of the Ossenberg Castle Chapel" was founded in October 1994 and took over the building of the church in lease in 1998 . Reconstruction began on May 8, 1999, and the topping-out ceremony was held on August 6 of the same year . In 2001 the restoration was finished. After the castle owners repaired and remodeled the former guest and servant rooms as well as the former laundry room in the north wing of the manor house from 2002 to 2004 as part of a Euregio project , they have been running a small hotel there since then . This should have put an end to the structural changes on Ossenberg for the time being, but hurricane Kyrill destroyed the former chicken coop in the north-eastern corner of the palace complex and left only part of the exterior brickwork walls intact. The building now has a roof again.

description

Northwest corner tower and adjoining farm building
Gate tower
Ossenberg Castle Chapel

Castle complex

Little is known about the previous building of today's castle. It is said to have had a defensive character and stood in the northeastern part of today's castle area. This covers an area with an almost square floor plan and is surrounded by a high wall, the four corners of which are occupied by three-storey square towers with a pyramid roof . Simple farm buildings are attached to the corner towers on the north and south sides of the complex. These include the former coach house , which can now be rented for events. In the middle of the north wall is a lattice gate, which used to be approached by a dead straight avenue when coming from the north . Access is from the south side through a central gate tower with a basket arched passage. The ground floor is rusticated from its two floors . The gable roof has a slated lantern with a bell.

On the west side of the Schlossgeviert is the nine-axle mansion with a rococo portal and a broken gable roof, which is crowned by a small ridge turret. Although it dates from the Rococo period , it appears very classicistic . The three central axes of the building are crowned by a simple triangular gable. The two-story, plastered central building is followed by single -story side wings to the north and south. Hotel rooms have been located in the north of it since 2004. The interior is partly from the 18th century, from the time of Ludolf von der Rhoers as lord of the castle. Special rooms are the restored library, which now serves as the breakfast room, and the ballroom with its rococo paneling. The ceiling of the hall is decorated with a painting framed by stucco tendrils . It shows the symbolic representations of the four continents known at the time and the four seasons in between. The four elements are shown in the center of the ceiling painting. The Ossenberger Festsaal is probably the only one of its kind on the lower left Lower Rhine. Like the library, it can be rented for events. Concerts, receptions and readings take place there, for example. These are the few occasions when the castle is open to visitors, otherwise there is no opportunity to visit.

Castle park and garden

On the west side of the complex, at the rear of the manor house, is the rest of an old forest park, which was badly damaged in the Second World War and was partially replanted afterwards. Nevertheless, there are still some old linden trees , copper beeches , horse chestnuts and gold discs .

On the east side of the palace area is a garden enclosed by high walls with a central roundabout. It can be entered through an iron gate in the eastern castle wall. A straight path cuts the garden area in an east-west direction. The parts to the north and south of the path are each occupied by a large lawn area, which is separated from the path with borders . In the garden there are some old yew trees and a common beech . The garden used to be a formal French-style state garden .

Castle chapel

The chapel to the south of the castle area is said to have been mentioned for the first time in the 13th century, but the first construction at this point is believed to be in the 11th century. The current building is a flat-roofed two-aisled brick building , the roots of which go back to the 18th century. The chapel can be used for church services and weddings of both denominations.

The building has roughly the external dimensions of 20 m × 11 m if the aisle is taken into account in the measurement. The baroque altar stands in an apse with a five-eighth closure . Behind him is a sacristy . The wings to the right and left of the altar represent the apostles Peter and Paul . Four statues stand on consoles : Christ, Mother Anna, Mary and St. Anthony, the patron saint of the chapel. The windows in the choir are dedicated to the Good Shepherd and the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus. The organ front , like the altar, dates from the Baroque period and is dated to the 17th century. For a long time, however , the pipes were mere facade, because everything else that belonged to a complete organ was missing. However, there is now a computer organ in the chapel.

literature

  • Paul Clemen : The Art Monuments of the District of Moers (= The Art Monuments of the Rhine Province . Volume 1, Section 3). L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1892, p. 62.
  • Georg Dehio : Rhineland (= manual of the German art monuments . North Rhine-Westphalia. Volume 1). Deutscher Kunstverlag , Munich / Berlin 1967, p. 87.
  • Heimatverein “Herrlichkeit Ossenberg” (ed.): Ossenberger Rundschau 2007. Self-published, Rheinberg-Ossenberg 2007, pp. 7–13 ( PDF ; 9.5 MB).
  • Robert Janke, Harald Herzog: Castles and palaces in the Rhineland. Greven, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-7743-0368-1 , p. 146.
  • Paul Mast: The Simultaneum in Ossenberg. [Pannen,] Moers 1954.
  • Wolfgang Sommer (Hrsg.): Chronicle of the rebuilding of the Ossenberg castle chapel. Rheinberg-Ossenberg 2002.
  • Gregor Spohr, Ele Beuthner: How nice to dream away here. Castles on the Lower Rhine. Pomp , Bottrop / Essen 2001, ISBN 3-89355-228-6 , pp. 132-135.
  • Richard Verhuven: The knight seat Ossenberg near Rheinberg and its owners. In: Heimatkalender Kreis Moers 1955. Schiffer, Moers 1954, pp. 54–61.

Web links

Commons : Haus Ossenberg  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b R. Verhuven: The knight seat Ossenberg near Rheinberg and its owners. 1954, p. 54.
  2. ↑ a b G Dehio: Rhineland. 1967, p. 87.
  3. ↑ P. Clemen: The art monuments of the district of Moers. 1892, p. 62.
  4. ^ Ferdinand GB Fischer: Excursion destinations on the Lower Rhine. Beautiful castles, palaces and moths from the Alps to Zons. Pomp, Bottrop / Essen 1998, ISBN 3-89355-152-2 , p. 96.
  5. ↑ a b c d R. Verhuven: The knight seat Ossenberg near Rheinberg and its owners. 1954, p. 57.
  6. ↑ G. Spohr, Ele Beuthner: How nice to dream away here. Castles on the Lower Rhine. 2001, p. 132.
  7. ^ Hermann Keussen: Contributions to the history of Crefeld and the Lower Rhine. In: Annals of the Historical Association for the Lower Rhine (AHVN). Volume 65.Boisserée , Cologne 1898, ISSN  2194-3818 , p. 101 ( digitized version ).
  8. ^ R. Janke, H. Herzog: Castles and palaces in the Rhineland. 2005, p. 146.
  9. ↑ Information according to the information board on site.
  10. ↑ a b c d R. Verhuven: The knight seat Ossenberg near Rheinberg and its owners. 1954, p. 55.
  11. ↑ a b G. Spohr, Ele Beuthner: How nice to dream away here. Castles on the Lower Rhine. 2001, p. 133.
  12. ↑ a b c d R. Verhuven: The knight seat Ossenberg near Rheinberg and its owners. 1954, p. 60.
  13. ↑ a b c d e f History of the castle chapel on rheinberg-ossenberg.de ( Memento of the original from January 13, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Accessed June 29, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / rheinberg-ossenberg.de
  14. ↑ a b R. Verhuven: The knight seat Ossenberg near Rheinberg and its owners. 1954, p. 61.
  15. ↑ a b Heimatverein "Herrlichkeit Ossenberg" (ed.): Ossenberger Rundschau 2007. 2007, p. 12.
  16. ↑ Heimatverein "Herrlichkeit Ossenberg" (ed.): Ossenberger Rundschau 2007. 2007, p. 13.
  17. ↑ Ernst Kausen: Ossenberg. A village on the Lower Rhine through the ages (Word document; 41 kB).
  18. ↑ a b c d Information on the castle chapel on the website of the NRW Foundation , accessed on June 29, 2016.
  19. ↑ Information on the castle chapel on rheinberg-ossenberg.de ( memento of the original from January 13, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Accessed July 2, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / rheinberg-ossenberg.de
  20. ^ Egon Peifer: Ossenberg Castle. Country house holidays with style. In: Top Magazin Niederrhein. Vol. 3, No. 3, 2007, p. 91 ( PDF ; 9.7 MB).
  21. ↑ Jochen Hild: Park of the manor houses in the district of Moers. In: Landkreis Moers (Hrsg.): Heimatkalender Kreis Moers 1970. Schiffer, Moers 1969, p. 112.
  22. ↑ Jochen Hild: Park of the manor houses in the district of Moers. In: Landkreis Moers (ed.): Heimatkalender Kreis Moers 1970. Schiffer, Moers 1969, p. 113.

Coordinates: 51 ° 34 ′ 22.3 "  N , 6 ° 34 ′ 56.6"  E