Schloss Westerwinkel ~ A beautiful isolated baroque moated castle

Free entry
State : Aschebrg – North Rhine Westphalia
Dates : 14 June 2018
Architecture : Baroque
Style : Baroque moated castle

We parked at the nearby parking area “Parkplatz Schloss Westerwinkle” free parking and short walk across to the castle. I saw straight away that it was a moated castle and I excitedly ran around exploring the crap out of this place 😉 and wow what a place!

I took my drone out and we relaxed a bit in the car park as it was empty with no body around and the weather was beautiful

WESTERWINKLE CASTLE HISTORY

A beautiful Baroque castle in Westphalia – its a closed four wing complex built in the mid 17th c.

The owners are the current lords of Westerwinkel, the Counts of Merveldt.

The castle was built in the middle of an english garden, themoats date back to the early Baroque style and are dated back to the moats of the castle in the middle ages. The moas were not actually for defence purposes bt more for architectural for this castle

There has been a castle at this location back in the year 1225

Today’s Westerwinkel Castle has nothing in common with the original castle complex. The outer bailey buildings were erected between 1663 and 1668. From a legal point of view, a decisive turning point occurred four years after the start of construction.

Written on the outside of the castle is this:

The specialty of this castle is not based on an eventful past or on a fascinating architectural history. Rather, it differs from all other castles more through its own character. It is reserved, like the inhabitants of this region; it is hidden in the high forests and in the meadows and fields enclosed by hedges; it seems much more likely to want to remain alone, hidden from every stranger, content with itself and its little world. This Sleeping Beauty Castle was built in the middle of an English garden. It is a complex of moats whose origins can be traced back to the early Baroque style and whose principles correspond to the moats of the castle in the Middle Ages. At the time of construction, the moats were dug, however, not for defense purposes (because this system of defense was already out of date at that time), but with an architectural aim that is representative of the baroque style. The entire complex extends over two rectangular islands; the buildings are on the east island and the garden is on the west island.