Burg Bergerhausen: A Medieval Moated Castle in Germany
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page6 sections
History
Burg Bergerhausen is a thirteenth-century lowland moated castle in Kerpen, Germany, and the ancestral seat of the Knights of Bergerhausen. It is the only surviving one of three castles formerly located in Bergerhausen.
Medieval Lords and Cologne Authority
Around 1320, the brothers of Bergerhausen sold part of the estate to the Cologne Mariengraden collegiate foundation, a religious institution whose holdings could include land and feudal rights. The Archbishops of Cologne later acquired the lordship to help defend their territory. In 1334, Archbishop Walram, whose office combined senior ecclesiastical authority with territorial and political power, granted the castle to the knight Hans-Ulrich von Bergerhausen in recognition of services rendered.
In 1424, Nella, the heiress of Wilhelm von Bergerhausen, brought the estate into her marriage with Statz von dem Bongart. Around 1430, descendants of the Bergerhausen family strengthened the castle’s fortifications. The expansion that created the present castle took place during the sixteenth century.
Noble Ownership and Modern Use
Ownership passed through marriage to Clemens August Waldbott von Bassenheim-Bornheim in 1830. After the family moved to Hungary at the end of the nineteenth century, their relative Clemens Freiherr von Loë-Longenburg purchased the estate in 1894 and left it to his nephew, Walter Freiherr von Loë.
In 1976, Walter’s son, Clemens Freiherr von Loë, leased the complex to the Bergerhausen Psychotherapeutic Institute, directed by Hans-Werner Gessmann. The institute converted the castle into a therapeutic center by 1989. After the sudden deaths of Walter Freiherr von Loë and his son Clemens, the community of heirs sold the complex to Josef and Willy Stollenwerk, former tenants of the Burghof estate. The buildings were renovated in 1984. Burg Bergerhausen is protected as an architectural heritage monument under North Rhine-Westphalia’s heritage-conservation system.
Remains
Moated Castle Complex
Burg Bergerhausen survives as a preserved lowland moated castle in Bergerhausen, within Blatzheim, a district of Kerpen. This type of fortified residence was built on relatively level, low-lying ground and used surrounding water or wet terrain as part of its defenses. The complex incorporates the fortifications strengthened in the medieval period and the expansion that produced its present form in the sixteenth century.
Park and Ceremonial Rooms
A public park is attached to the castle complex. Mature trees occupy the grounds and provide views toward the castle. Within the buildings, a fireplace room is rented by the city of Kerpen for civil marriage ceremonies. An adjoining chapel is used for church weddings, giving the surviving complex both civic and religious ceremonial functions.
