Raesfeld Castle
Raesfeld Castle is a water castle located in Raesfeld, a municipality in the district of Borken in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The castle's history dates back to the beginning of the 12th century. At the end of the 16th century, the knight's castle of the Lords of Raesfeld came into the possession of the von Velen family. In the middle of the 17th century, Imperial Count Alexander II von Velen had the castle converted into a Renaissance-style residential palace. In the first half of the 18th century, the von Velen family of Raesfeld died out; the castle was only inhabited irregularly and gradually fell into disrepair. At the beginning of the 19th century, parts of the complex were demolished or used as an agricultural estate until the 20th century. After the Second World War, the new owners, the Chambers of Crafts of North Rhine-Westphalia, had it restored. Today, the castle is home to the further education and training facility of the Chambers of Crafts and is used for cultural events and as a restaurant. It has been possible to get married here since 2007.
Of the former four wings of the upper castle, the west wing with its striking stepped tower and the adjoining old building to the north with a rebuilt round tower still stand today. Moats separate the upper castle from the outer castle and the village castle grounds with the castle chapel. The adjoining zoo is one of the few remaining from the Renaissance period. A natural and cultural history exhibition in the modern Information and Visitor Center Tiergarten Schloss Raesfeld does justice to this special position. The zoo is a member of the European Garden Heritage Network.
Architecture and building history
The castle complex comprises the upper castle, the outer bailey, and the surrounding castle grounds, including the castle chapel. A moat separates the individual parts, originally only connected by drawbridges. The art historian Richard Klapheck wrote: "From the south, the entire complex forms an impressive picture of wonderfully balanced building masses. There is no baroque, violent disturbance despite the overpowering tower verticals." The upper and lower castles are arranged so that the fortissimo of the tones strikes resonate in harmony, creating an overall picture that is imbued with balance and tranquility.The predecessor of the current castle is likely the motte-and-bailey castle known as Burg Kretier, which no longer exists. It was situated in the Große Esch, in the vicinity of the Oude IJssel, approximately three kilometers to the north of the current castle. Excavations conducted in the 1950s and 1960s, in addition to dendrochronological investigations, have revealed that a wooden tower mound castle with moats was constructed on the site around 1117, over a 9th or 10th-century flat settlement. This is likely the settlement of Hrothusfeld, which was first mentioned in the Heberegister of Werden Abbey in 889 AD and which gave rise to the name Raesfeld. It is probable that the wooden settlement burned down after 1259, as it was not rebuilt and fell into disrepair.
In contrast, the first stone castle was constructed on the site of the present-day castle. The castle had the shape of an irregular rectangle with edge lengths of 8.60 m and 9.30 m. Portions of the northwest corner of the north wing of the upper castle have been preserved. It is an approximately 1.80 m thick wall constructed of rubble stones and lime mortar with embrasures.
By the end of the 14th century, the castle had been extended to two storeys and reached a length of approximately 30.20 m and a width of 12.40 m. In addition, a square tower was constructed at the southern corner, while a round defense tower was erected on the diagonally opposite corner to the north.
As a consequence of the destruction of the roof truss by fire in 1597, Alexander I von Velen commissioned the rebuilding of the castle from 1604 to 1606. The master builder Heinrich von Borken was responsible for this undertaking. The round tower, which had been partially destroyed, was rebuilt and given a Welsh dome. The iron number '1606' on the south side of the wing bears witness to the completion of the work. However, the east wall was subsequently rebuilt in 1614 following the destruction caused by a storm. This was the first occasion on which the east side was decorated with ornamentation such as cornice bands and coats of arms on the gable edges. The attached four-part oriel bears the date 1561 and originally came from Velen Castle. The piece was removed around 1900 and remained at Velen Castle until 1933 when it was returned to Raesfeld Castle.
This brick edifice was incorporated as the northern wing in the expansion of the residential palace in 1643 by Alexander II von Velen. Three additional wings in the Renaissance style encompassed a rectangular inner courtyard with the old manor house. Two of these wings, the low gallery with the arcade to the inner courtyard and the entrance wing to the upper castle, including a magnificent entrance portal, were demolished in the 19th century. The western residential wing with a gambrel and the tower from this construction period remain on the upper castle. The dominant tower, which is approximately 50 m high, adjoins the west wing to the south. The six-story tower is crowned by a bronze helmet, which tapers steeply upwards and is topped by an onion dome. The unconventional shape with the triple offset truncated pyramids is attributed to the early Baroque period. Klapheck described the tower as a "trumpet blast turned to stone." In 1959, the tower was re-roofed with copper sheets.
In 1646, the Capuchin and architect Michael van Gent was engaged as the master builder. Born Jacobus van Pouke near Ghent in 1585, he resided in Münster at the time. Upon his departure for Rome in 1647, Jacob and Johann Schmidt from Roermond continued the work based on a model by van Gent. Remigius Roßkotten was responsible for the stonemasonry work. The outer bailey was completed around 1648, and the upper bailey around 1653, at a total cost of approximately 80,000 Reichstaler.
Bricks were also utilized as the primary construction material for the new wings. Light-colored Baumberg sandstone was employed for the portals, the beams and frames of the windows, the corner ashlars, and the decorative elements. At the beginning of the 20th century, the shutters and portals, which were originally painted red and white, were repainted red and yellow, likely to match the red and gold coat of arms of the von Velen family, which had been painted on the shutters and portals since the 17th century. Before this, the shutters and portals were probably painted blue and white. The roofs were covered with red tiles, and the tower caps with Moselle slate.
The west wing is divided in height by several cornice bands. Vertically, it is divided by regular stone cross windows. On the first floor, they are crowned by triangular gables with alternating angel heads and shells in the middle. On the second floor, flat double arches with sandstone imposts above the windows relieve a roof cornice supported by corbels. The relieving arches above the windows of the basement are designed as simple semicircular arches, as in the higher floors of the tower, but the imposts and keystones are more elaborately carved sandstone. The courtyard side of the west wing has a representative design: the entrance door to the first floor in the south corner is decorated with rich volute ornamentation and a Oeil-de-boeuf above it. Each of the windows on the first floor is surmounted by a stone cartouche. The Corinthian capitals of the pilasters between the windows are decorated alternately with figures of angels and volutes; they bear a Corinthian-style architrave with volute meanders. The base of the mock columns is formed by sculpted ashlars with lion heads.
No analogous models for the expansion of Raesfeld Castle can be identified in the surrounding area. Klapheck situates Raesfeld within the context of the castle buildings in the Geldrisch-Limburg Maas valley. He describes Raesfeld as the easternmost manifestation of 17th-century Maas Valley brick architecture, which encompasses the castles of Hoensbroek and Schaesberg near Heerlen and Leerodt Castle near Geilenkirchen. Alexander II was personally acquainted with the lords of the castles, or at the very least the Dutch master builders, due to family connections.
The interior was furnished just as magnificently in the course of the extension. The rooms were adorned with leather wallpaper and tapestries, and the ceilings were decorated with Baroque stucco and paintings. François Walschaerth from Maastricht painted the reveals of the windows in the Knights' Hall of the old manor house with gods and heroes from Greek mythology. Andreas Petersen painted birds and ornaments on the hall doors. Other rooms include the parade room, the count's writing room, the library, the billiard room, the china room, the blue room and the green room. However, hardly any of the furnishings were left when an inspection was carried out in February 1772. Some of the inventory was taken to Velen Castle, while the rest was almost without exception looted or destroyed during the vacancy and occupation. A harpsichord purchased by Alexander II from the famous Flemish workshop Ruckers in 1640 has survived to this day.
Like the portal wing, the stair tower in the inner courtyard and the gallery wing, the round fortified tower dating back to the 14th century was demolished in the 19th century. In 1959, the remains, which were still up to 2.50 m high and 2.70 m thick, were removed down to the oak pile foundations. A three-legged bronze cooking pot and a 17th-century Bartmann jug were found, which were probably walled in when the tower was repaired around 1600. The round tower was rebuilt in 1960.
After falling into serious disrepair in the 18th and 19th centuries, the castle was renovated in 1922 and from 1930 to 1932. From 1950 to 1957, the war damage was repaired and the interior of the castle was redesigned. As part of the renovation, numerous walls were removed and new windows were broken through in the north wing. In 1951, a kitchen wing was added to the northern corner between the west and north wings for the palace restaurant and the staircase to the first floor in the inner courtyard was rebuilt.