Herdringen Castle (German: ''Schloss Herdringen'') is a castle in the ''

Ortsteil A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

'' Herdringen of the town of

Arnsberg Arnsberg (; wep, Arensperg) is a town in the Hochsauerland county, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Hoch ...

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 most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is the seat of the Fürstenberg-Herdringen family and the present building (built from 1844 to 1853 to designs by

Ernst Friedrich Zwirner Ernst Friedrich Zwirner was an architect born at Jakobswalde otlarniain Silesia in 1802, he died at Cologne in 1861. He studied in Breslau and Berlin, and worked at the latter place under Karl Friedrich Schinkel. From 1833 he was the leading a ...

) is one of the most notable secular Gothic revival buildings in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

History

The Herdringen manor was first mentioned in a document in 1376. It belonged to the von Ketteler family until

1543 __NOTOC__ Year 1543 ( MDXLIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. It is one of the years sometimes referred to as an "Annus mirabilis" because of its significant publications in sc ...

, and then to the von Westrem family. In 1618, the Paderborn prince-bishop Dietrich von Fürstenberg bought it and inherited it from his nephew. Since then, the property has belonged to the Barons of Fürstenberg. The three-winged outer bailey was built between 1683 and 1723. The actual castle was built between 1844 and 1853 according to plans by

. Zwirner also completed the Cologne Cathedral as master builder. The chapel of the castle is therefore a reminder of this important building. One of the highlights of the almost 700-year history was the visit of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who was a guest in the castle in 1853. One of the halls still bears the name "Königssaal". After the occupation period, the castle was rented to the Paderborn Diocesan Caritas Association from 1947-1968 and then to a private school authority until 1998. Since the turn of the millennium, the current lord of the castle, Wennemar Freiherr von Fürstenberg, has devoted himself to the renovation of the complex. As an upscale venue, the castle has hosted many weddings, concerts, conferences and other events for 20 years now, which have been able to enjoy an extraordinary ambience within the beautiful historic premises. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the jewel of Herdringen closed the gates to the public. However, the lord of the castle took this situation as an opportunity to have further restoration work carried out in order to continue operations in the future. The central administration of Baron von Fürstenberg will in future be transferred to the "Schloss Herdringen Cultural Foundation" and the property will be converted into a museum as part of this. Mail: info@schloss-herdringen.de

In popular culture

The 1961 film '' Der Fälscher von London'' (''Forger of London'') by Austrian director

Harald Reinl Harald Reinl (8 July 1908 in Bad Ischl, Austria – 9 October 1986 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) was an Austrian film director. He is known for the films he made based on Edgar Wallace and Karl May books (see Karl May movies and Edgar Wal ...

was filmed at

Wandsbek Studios The Wandsbek Studios are film production and television studios located in Wandsbek, a district of the German city of Hamburg. The complex was established in 1948 when Real Film, set up the previous year, acquired a site in Wandsbek for constr ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, with

location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for ex ...

at Herdringen Castle. In 1963, Herdringen Castle and its English landscape park generously laid out in the 1840s were used as "Chelford Manor" during the filming of '' Der Schwarze Abt'' (''Black Abbot''), a German crime film by Austrian screenwriter and film director

Franz Josef Gottlieb Franz Josef Gottlieb (1 November 1930 – 23 July 2006) was an Austrian film director and screenwriter. He directed 60 films between 1959 and 2005. He also directed the children's series '' Ravioli'' in 1983; it aired on ZDF in 1984. He was ...

. The Black Abbot (1963) ~ Rarelust, movies from All Genres
/ref> Both films are based on writings by

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

and presently available as free download on RareLust website.

Bibliography

* Michael Jolk: ''Der Bau der barocken Vorburg des Schlosses Herdringen unter Mithilfe der Rüthener Steinhauer Walck und Rabaliatti''. In: ''SüdWestfalen Archiv. Landesgeschichte im ehemals kurkölnischen Herzogtum Westfalen und der Grafschaft Arnsberg''. Heft 2, Arnsberg 2002, p. 141–151. * ''Die Baudenkmäler der Stadt Arnsberg.'' Erfassungszeitraum 1980–1990. Arnsberg, 1990. p. 179–183. * Friedhelm Ackermann, Alfred Bruns: ''Burgen und Schlösser und Klöster im Sauerland'', Strobel Verlag, 1985,

References

External links

Official website

Herdringen Castle at LWL-Geodaten Kultur

Herdringen Castle on the municipal website of Arnsberg
Herdringen Buildings and structures in Hochsauerlandkreis {{NorthRhineWestphalia-struct-stub