Holzheim Castle (german: Burg Holzheim) is a

lowland castle The term lowland castle or plains castle (german: Niederungsburg, Flachlandburg, Tieflandburg) describes a type of castle that is situated on a lowland, plain or valley floor, as opposed to one built on higher ground such as a hill spur. The cl ...

west of Heistern in the municipality of Langerwehe in the county of

Düren Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a people ...

in the German state of

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 stands between Heistern and the Bovenberg Forest near Eschweiler- Nothberg and is used today as a farm and riding estate. A small stream, the Holzheimer Graben, runs past the castle to the east. It discharges into the

Inde Indian English (IE) is a group of English dialects spoken in the republic of India and among the Indian diaspora. English is used by the Indian government for communication, along with Hindi, as enshrined in the Constitution of India ...

at Hücheln. The castle dates to 1333, and its owners were vassals 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 ...

. In the 15th to 17th centuries the

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

and

gate tower A gate tower (german: Torturm) is a tower built over or next to a major gateway. Usually it is part of a medieval fortification. This may be a town or city wall, fortress, castle or castle chapel. The gate tower may be built as a twin tower on ...

were built, both of which have survived. In 1818, when the region was part of the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

county of Düren, the castle and its estates were sold to private buyers. In 1893 it was bought by Richard Schleicher, who also bought the nearby estate of

Schönthal Schönthal is a municipality in the district of Cham in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the ...

. The property later changed hands several times.

External links

* {{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804042118/http://www.iv-pro-langerwehe.de/holzheim.htm , date=August 4, 2010 , title=History and photographs of the castle Castles in the Eifel Castles in North Rhine-Westphalia Buildings and structures in Düren (district) Lowland castles