Brüggen Castle (german: Burg Brüggen) is a

water castle A water castle is a castle whose site is largely defended by water. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbodies such as island castles in a river or offshore. The term comes from European castle st ...

in the southeastern part of the

Lower Rhine The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...

municipality of Brüggen in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

. It was the most important

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in the north of the

Duchy of Jülich The Duchy of Jülich (german: Herzogtum Jülich; nl, Hertogdom Gulik; french: Duché de Juliers) comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay west of the Rhine river and was bordered by th ...

. The castle was built by the Count of Kessel in the 13th century to guard a

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

over the River Schwalm. In the early 14th century it went into the possession of the dukes of Jülich, who had the existing building replaced by a

quadrangular castle A quadrangular castle or courtyard castle is a type of castle characterised by ranges of buildings which are integral with the curtain walls, enclosing a central ward or quadrangle, and typically with angle towers. There is no keep and frequently ...

made from

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

. After the occupation of Brüggen in 1794 by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

ic troops it was confiscated and resold by the French government to a private individual at the beginning of the 19th century. Today part of the castle houses a

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and natural history

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Literature

Paul Clemen Paul Clemen (31 October 1866 – 8 July 1947) was a German art historian known in particular for his large inventory of monuments in the Rhineland area, many of which were destroyed or severely damaged in World War II. Clemen was born in Leipz ...

(ed.): ''Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Kempen''. L. Schwann, Düsseldorf, 1891 (''Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz''. Vol.1, Part 1), pp. 23–27
online
* Bernhard Gondorf, Werner Otto: ''Burgen und Schlösser. Höhepunkte niederrheinischer Baukunst''. Mercator, Duisburg, 1991, , p. 53. * Manfred A. Jülicher: ''Burg Brüggen im Wechsel der Geschichte''. Eigenverlag, Niederkrüchten 1979. * Gregor Spohr: ''Wie schön hier, zu verträumen. Schlösser am Niederrhein''. Pomp, Bottrop/Essen, 2001, , pp. 14–17. *

External links

(flash or Quicktime plugin needed) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruggen Castle Water castles in North Rhine-Westphalia Museums in North Rhine-Westphalia Rhineland Buildings and structures in Viersen (district) Hunting museums Natural history museums in Germany Brick Gothic Gothic architecture in Germany