Location: Rhineland
Arenfels Castle, formerly also called Arienfels Castle, is a
castle complex above Bad Hönningen in Rhineland-Palatinate, which
dates back to a medieval castle from the 13th century. The castle
was given its present form between 1849 and 1855, during which time
it was extensively modified in the neo-Gothic style under the
direction of the Cologne cathedral master builder Ernst Friedrich
Zwirner. Because of its 365 windows, 52 doors and 12 towers, it
received the nickname "Castle of the Year".
The two-part
complex consists of a three-winged main castle in the shape of a
horseshoe, which is open to the south on the Rhine side, and an
outer bailey with farm buildings to the north. These two-storey farm
buildings from the 19th century served as coach houses and stables.
Their ground floors have iron beams over columns and neo-Gothic
tracery.
Only a Renaissance gable on the western facade is
reminiscent of the previous building of the neo-Gothic main palace
with its four floors. A tall tower with a conical helmet and a
neo-Gothic stone spire protrudes from the middle wing of the castle.
The west and east wings of the castle are each closed at their
southern ends by a stepped gable with stone figures that were made
by the Cologne cathedral sculptor Christian Mohr. The pediment of
the west wing shows a statue of Joan of Arc, while the stone figures
of the pediment of the east wing represent Godfrey of Bouillon and
Richard the Lionheart. The portal in the northern central wing
carries a balcony whose stone parapet shows the coat of arms of the
von Westerholt-Gysenberg family.
The entire castle building
has a plaster that was partially renewed on the Rhine-facing side in
the years 2000 to 2003 according to the old model and has a light
ocher color.
Inside, the family rooms were on the ground
floor, while representational rooms were on the first floor. Much of
the architectural interior design in the neo-Gothic style has been
preserved to this day. In addition to the knight's hall and marble
and Wedgwood fireplaces, this also includes a three-storey
connecting staircase made of cast iron, which was manufactured in
the Sayner Hütte according to designs by Christoph Stephan.
The beginnings
In the years 1258 and 1259, Heinrich II von
Isenburg (1213–1287) or his son Gerlach (documented 1246–1303) erected
the first fortifications on a rocky plateau above the Rhine, which were
significantly smaller than today's Lock. The building material for this
castle could be extracted directly from the rock on site. On the south
side, the buildings were secured by a deep neck ditch, while the keep
protected the north-east side. In the inner courtyard of the complex
there was a deep draw well, the shaft of which reached down to the
groundwater level of the Rhine.
Today's Arenfels Castle is first
mentioned in a document as "Arenvelz Castle" in a declaration of
guarantee by Gerlach von Isenburg for Countess Mechthild von Sayn dated
August 6, 1259.
With the exception of the walled keep base,
nothing remains of the 13th-century castle.
When the
Isenburg-Arenfels line died out in 1371, the castle then came into the
hands of the Electorate of Trier, which gave the complex as a fief to
the von Isenburg-Grenzau family.
The Renaissance Castle
Under
Count Salentin von Isenburg-Grenzau, the castle was converted into a
palace in the second half of the 16th century. Salentin had an east wing
built in the Renaissance style and connected it to the existing west
wing with a central wing. Because the facility was no longer used for
military purposes, old, fortified parts of the castle were removed or
rebuilt during the construction work: the neck moat was filled in, while
the old keep was integrated into the central wing. Due to the lack of
fortifications, Swedish troops could easily capture and occupy the
castle during the Thirty Years' War.
When Ernst von
Isenburg-Grenzau, the last male representative of this line, died in
1664, the Archbishop of Trier, Karl Kaspar von der Leyen, confiscated
the castle as a fief and in 1670 finally entrusted it to a relative,
Baron Johann Carl Caspar von der Leyen zu Adendorf the castle and the
associated lordship. Johann Carl Caspar had today's outbuildings built
to the north of the castle and, at considerable expense, expanded the
complex into his family's preferred summer residence.
During the
Franco-Dutch War, Arenfels Castle was occupied by the French Marshal
Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, who at that time commanded the French army
on the Lower Rhine.
Conversion in the style of neo-Gothic
The
Arenfels castle and manor remained in the possession of the von der
Leyen family until 1848, but from the beginning of the 19th century the
family lacked the funds to adequately maintain the complex. The result
was the gradual decay of the buildings. In order to remedy the financial
difficulties, the family, which had been raised to the rank of prince
since 1809, sold the castle in 1848 to the Imperial Count Friedrich
Ludolf von Westerholt-Gysenberg, who had the dilapidated building
repaired from 1849 and then settled there with his wife Johanna von
Charlé . For the construction work he hired the Cologne master builder
Ernst Friedrich Zwirner, who completely redesigned the complex in the
years 1852-1858 according to English and medieval-German models in the
neo-Gothic style. The comprehensive change was actually not in the
interests of the client, who initially only had the renovation of the
Renaissance castle in mind. But Zwirner managed again and again to
convince Ludolf Friedrich von Westerholt-Gysenberg of his plans for
far-reaching transformations.
In 1852 the repair and conversion
of the east wing was completed, which was followed in 1853 by the
redesign of the central wing. 1854 saw the construction of today's keep
up to the final crenellation, which received its helmet with a stone tip
in 1859. The completion of the construction work in the same year marked
the expansion of the west wing and the construction of the numerous
small turrets on the facade. Zwirner also completely redesigned the
interior of the castle. The work on this lasted until 1858. The costs of
30,000 thalers estimated at the beginning had increased to 135,000
thalers in the end. Although Arenfels Castle is one of the outstanding
examples of Rhenish neo-Gothic today, a quote from Ludolf Friedrich von
Westerholt-Gysenberg shows that Zwirner's building did not meet with
unlimited approval: "It will be a shame about the irretrievably
destroyed Renaissance castle! The only thing that gives me some
consolation is that many art philistines find the castle beautiful.”
From the 20th century
From 1931, the architect and castle
researcher Bodo Ebhardt carried out comprehensive building surveys at
Arenfels Castle, which was then repaired under his direction. But during
the Second World War the buildings were badly damaged again. During the
fighting for the Remagen Bridge, the castle was shelled by American
artillery for eight days and was severely damaged. The keep and the two
neo-Gothic gables on the Rhine side were in danger of collapsing, and
parts of the keep gallery were destroyed. The roof truss of the west
wing had burned down, and the roof trusses of the other two wings of the
building were partially damaged. On March 15, 1945, the castle was
handed over to the Americans. When they cleared the facility after eight
weeks of occupation, it was plundered and heavily soiled.
In the
following, environmental influences did the rest to damage the building
fabric. Although numerous repairs were carried out by the owners after
the war, they were not able to have all the necessary building security
work carried out. The State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in
Rhineland-Palatinate therefore initiated a renovation program in 2000,
which was primarily intended to eliminate the stone damage to the
building fabric and which is still ongoing today. Renovation work to
date includes securing the neo-Gothic gables, applying new plaster and
replacing the badly damaged Joan of Arc statue with a copy.
While
numerous pieces of furniture were already lost in the turmoil of the
Second World War, the impressive collection of weapons and the valuable
books in the castle library were auctioned off in 1951. The 6,500 books
are now owned by the Bottrop City Archives and were indexed and
extensively restored between 1999 and 2011.
A former owner of
Arenfels Castle was Antonius Freiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg,[5] a
grandson of Fritz Graf Westerholt-Arenfels († 1951) and son of Theodor
Kuno Geyr von Schweppenburg (* August 8, 1918 - † September 14, 2015) as
well Wilhelmine Countess Westerholt-Arenfels.
Arenfels Castle has
been operated as an event location and hotel since 2020. It can be used
for weddings, meetings and filming.[6] In 2021, Christian Runkel from
Rheinbrohl became the new owner of the palace complex.