Wittringen Castle or Wittringen House (German: ''Schloss Wittringen'' or ''Haus Wittringen'') is a

moated A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

castle in

Gladbeck Gladbeck () is a town in the district of Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Gladbeck is quite a young town, first recognised 21 July 1919 when it was given town rights. The town established itself around five farming villages, Br ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

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 ...

History

The noble family ''von Wittringen'' was first mentioned in an official document from 1263.

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

Ludolfus de Witteringe is today believed to have erected the castle around that time. The exact date is, however, unclear. Another document from 1394 mentions Heinrich von Brachtbecke as the castle’s owner. The three ''

Wolfsangel (, translation "wolf's hook") or () is a heraldic charge from Germany and eastern France, which was inspired by medieval European wolf traps that consisted of a Z-shaped metal hook (called the ''Wolfsangel'', or the ''Crampon'' in French) th ...

n'' of Brachtbecke's family crest were later also included in the crest of the city of Gladbeck. In 1438, the

Herzog ''Herzog'' (female ''Herzogin'') is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to by the ducal title. ...

Cleves Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...

granted the von Oeffte family

enfeoffment In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of ti ...

of 50 percent of Wittringen. The family later acquired the other half and was thus the castle’s sole possessor for the next 150 years. In the mid-sixteenth century, Wittringen was given to the family of the Knights von Capellen as a betrothal gift. During the

Thirty Years’ War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

, it was plundered by Hessian troops in 1642. In 1922,

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

Vittinghoff-Schell, then the owner of Wittringen, sold the castle to the city of Gladbeck. In the following years, it was extensively overhauled, using historic maps and plans. 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 ...

was re-modelled in its original style of the

Dutch Renaissance The Renaissance in the Low Countries was a cultural period in the Northern Renaissance that took place in around the 16th century in the Low Countries (corresponding to modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands and French Flanders). Culture in the Low C ...

. Since 1928, Wittringen has been home to the museum of Gladbeck (Museum der Stadt Gladbeck) and today it also hosts a restaurant. The castle is surrounded by spacious forests, parks and the Gladbeck Stadium.

External links

Museum der Stadt Gladbeck
– official site
Restaurant’s website with more photos of Wittringen Castle
{{coord, 51, 33, 34.74, N, 06, 58, 52.50, E , region:DE-NW_type:landmark, display=title Museums in North Rhine-Westphalia Local museums in Germany Water castles in North Rhine-Westphalia Buildings and structures in Recklinghausen (district)