Holstein Castle
| Holstein Castle | |
|---|---|
| Nümbrecht, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany | |
 The castle moat, now the mill pond of Holsteins Mühle | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Moated water castle |
| Condition | Protected ruin |
| Location | |
 Location within North Rhine-Westphalia | |
| Coordinates | 50°55′14″N 7°32′30″E / 50.9206°N 7.5416°E |
| Site history | |
| Built | c. 900 |
Holstein Castle (German: Burg Holstein) was a moated water castle on the river Bröl near Nümbrecht, in the Oberbergischer Kreis of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was the ancestral seat of the Staël von Holstein family, who held it in fief from the Counts of Sponheim.[1] The castle is believed to have been destroyed amid the recurring regional feuds of the late 13th century, although the date and circumstances are unknown.[1] Its site survives as a protected archaeological monument, adjacent to the historic mill Holsteins Mühle.[2]
History
[edit]The Staël von Holstein family, originally surnamed Flecke de Are, is attested as early as 1189, when Ludewicus Flecke de Are is recorded as Vogt of Brodenheim,[3] an estate of St. Pantaleon's Abbey, in a charter of Philip I, archbishop of Cologne.[4] Ludewicus's son, Henricus Flecke de Are (also styled as Henricus Flecke de Holstein), is attested from 1237.[5][6]
On 11 June 1256, Henricus' widow Heilewigis transferred the castle to their daughter Benedicta and her husband Theodericus de Schinne.[7] On 16 July 1270 the brothers Henricus and Theodericus Flecke de Holstein renounced their claim to the castle in favour of Count Godefridus I de Sayn.[1] Although the castle was lost to the family, its members continued to bear the toponymic surname.[1]
Site
[edit]
The castle stood in the valley of the Bröl, a location corroborated by a 1279 grant of the abbot of Siegburg Abbey.[1] The site was surveyed in the 19th century by the historian and genealogist Anton Fahne, who recorded the ruins of a massive fortification set on two islands: a smaller island approximately 30 paces by 30 paces entirely covered with stonemasonry, and alongside it a second, larger island, approximately 90 paces by 90 paces, reduced to a meadow. Both islands were enclosed by moats fed by the Bröl.[7] Excavation uncovered the foundations of the water castle beneath Holsteins Mühle, which was later built over them; an ancient well survives inside the mill building.[2][8] The site is entered as Bodendenkmal No. 40 in the heritage register of the municipality of Nümbrecht (listed 30 September 1983).[9]
The hilltop Homburg Castle of the Counts of Sayn, first documented in 1276, was the successor of the earlier valley water castle.[10] The historian Albrecht Brendler, citing historical confusion with the nearby Homburg Castle, has stated that it is possible the two names denote a single site.[11]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 Transehe-Roseneck, Astaf von (1929). Genealogisches Handbuch der livländischen Ritterschaft. Görlitz. p. 553.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - 1 2 "Holsteins Mühle mit Mühlteich und Mühlengraben in der Brölbacher Aue". KuLaDig, Kultur.Landschaft.Digital. Landschaftsverband Rheinland. 2011. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- ↑ Rettinger, Elmar. "Brodenheim (Wüstung, Gmk. Brodenbach)". Historisches Ortslexikon Rheinland-Pfalz (in German). Vol. 2: Ehemaliger Kreis St. Goar. Institut für Geschichtliche Landeskunde an der Universität Mainz. Retrieved 2026-07-22.
- ↑ Lacomblet, Theodor Joseph (1858). Urkundenbuch für die Geschichte des Niederrheins. Vol. IV. Düsseldorf. Nr. 638.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ↑ Lacomblet, Theodor Joseph (1858). Urkundenbuch für die Geschichte des Niederrheins. Vol. IV. Düsseldorf. Nr. 658.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ↑ Lacomblet, Theodor Joseph (1846). Urkundenbuch für die Geschichte des Niederrheins. Vol. II. Düsseldorf. Nr. 259.
- 1 2 Fahne, Anton (1871). Geschichte der Herren Staël von Holstein. Cologne. p. 6.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ↑ "Holsteins Mühle". Rheinischer Mühlenverband e.V. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- ↑ Denkmalliste der Gemeinde Nümbrecht. Gemeinde Nümbrecht. Untere Denkmalbehörde. Bodendenkmal Nr. 40
- ↑ "Burgen". Bergischer Geschichtsverein e.V. Retrieved 2026-06-24.
- ↑ Brendler, Albrecht (2008). Burgen – Schlösser – Adelssitze: Eine Entdeckungsreise zu den historischen Zentren der Macht im Oberbergischen Land. Wiehl: Gronenberg Verlag. ISBN 978-3-88265-281-9.