Burg Welterode, Medieval water castle in Eitorf, Germany.

Burg Welterode is a late medieval castle house in the Eip valley near Eitorf, surrounded by a water moat. The main building is a three-story, tower-like house on a rectangular plan, rising above a cellar and topped by a hipped roof. One long side has a narrow, gabled central projection. A drawing from 1607 shows the house with four round corner towers. The complex was extensively restored from 1983 to 1986.

Burg Welterode is first recorded in 1249, when the widowed Countess Mechthild of Sayn gave the monastery of Herchen the Hof Mauchenrode together with tithes at Schönenberg and Waldenrode. In 1289 the castle belonged to the city of Cologne, and in 1404 a Friedrich von Welteroide is named as reconciled with Cologne. The present building dates at least from the 16th century, when it passed to the Counts of Nesselrode-Ehreshoven; in 1870 Reichsgraf Maximilian von Nesselrode-Ehreshoven sold the Rittergut to Jakob von Kaufmann-Asser of Cologne, and it soon went to Count Hoensbroech of Schloss Türnich, owner until at least 1938.

The name Welterode appears in medieval charters as Waldenrode and as the family name von Welteroide, recorded in 1404. The castle belonged to the Counts of Nesselrode-Ehreshoven from the 16th century, and in the 18th century a Kellmann managed it, as shown by Henricus Barrich, who held that office in 1730.

Burg Welterode is a private residence and cannot be visited inside; the moat-ringed Burghaus with its hipped roof and gabled central riser can only be viewed from outside. The site lies in the Eiptal within the municipality of Eitorf, reached via the road toward Mühleip. A mill and an outbuilding were demolished in the 19th century during road works, so the present grounds are smaller than the historic estate.

The 1607 drawing, the oldest surviving image of Welterode, shows the residential tower with four round corner turrets. The castle was probably reached only over a drawbridge and through a gatehouse. A mill and an outbuilding were demolished in the 19th century during road construction.