BURGSTEINFURT
Just a short walk from the little town of Steinfurt is a gorgeous, interesting shaped moated castle, I just had to stand there for 10mins just staring at it with a smile on my face (yes, im wierd, I LOVE castles)
The walk out from the town was so nice, it was a small town, very quiet, we prob saw only 15 people in total while we were there
I just love the shape of this castle and I was so annoyed we couldnt go inside to explore… Its a private residence of the princes of Bentheim & Steinfurt Family
The nobleman Rudolf II von Stenvorde was the builder of this beautiful complex in 1129. In this spot there used to be a square residential tower with 2m thick walls. Then the gentlemen of Steinfurt buit a fortress tower on an artificial island
In 12th c. a castle chapel was added to the partial ring wall, it consists of 2 sacral rooms, one on top of the other, on the ground and upper floors of the building. The upper floor served as a castle church, while the lower one (get this!) was reserved for the cult of the dead (!)
In the 13th c. the residental tower was converted into a knights hall and the outer bailey was also created around what was then farm buildings, barns, stables, stores and 2 manor houses
In 14th c. the von Stenvorde family died out, this beautiful castle was handed to Everwin von Gotterwick. this lucky guy also inherited Castle Bentheim and so called himself “Counts of bentheim and Steinfurt”
During the 30 year war the castle changed hands several times and was badly damaged and was completely rebuilt between 1706-1715 and further new buildings were added between 1723-1729 in Baroque style. The ring wall surrounding the older castle was pulled down.
Surrounding the castle is the Bagno National Park
The Wandering Passport 