Schleiden Castle

Schleiden Castle, 2008

Schleiden Castle, view from the east, aerial photo (2015)

Schleiden Castle, view from the north, aerial photo (2015)

The Schloss Schleiden in the Eifel town of Schleiden was a castle from the late 12th century, rebuilt the present castle due to considerable destruction in several wars.

history

Medieval tombstone next to today's castle church

In 1198 the "castrum" was first documented. In 1343 the Counts of Luxembourg received the castle as an imperial fief . In 1346, the emperor allowed the Lord of Schleiden , who came from the dynasty of the Counts of Blankenheim , to take the castle, the outer bailey and the valley as a fiefdom of the Count of Luxembourg on the condition that the fortress became a Luxembourg open house . In 1445 the von Schleiden family died out and the von Nassau-Diez family took over the castle complex. The families von Manderscheid (1450), von der Marck (1593), von Arenberg (1773) followed as noble lords of Schleiden.

In 1920 the Arenbergers sold the former fortress, which had meanwhile been converted into a castle, to the order of the Lazarists . In the war years of 1944 and 1945 all palace buildings were largely destroyed; only the southern part of the east wing and the surrounding walls were preserved. In 1950 the castle was rebuilt in the old style. In 1951 the Order of the Oblates of St. Franz von Sales opened the Schleiden Castle and set up the Marianum student home as a boarding school in the main building.

Conversion from the castle to the palace

Between 1689 and 1702 various defensive walls and the towers of the castle complex were put down and the building complex was converted into a castle around 1726. A three-story building was built on the south side that included the shield wall . Based on the plans of the Aachen architect and master builder Johann Joseph Couven , a gate was built to connect the south and east wings. The access road to the castle courtyard was laid out to the north.

The former castle chapel and today's castle church , which houses graves and numerous relics of the aristocratic ruling families, have been part of the ensemble of the former castle and today's Schleiden Castle since the early 13th century .