Schloss Nordkirchen, Baroque palace in Nordkirchen, Germany.
Schloss Nordkirchen is a Baroque palace in Nordkirchen, built 1703–1734 as a three-winged U-shaped residence around a cour d'honneur. It stands on a rectangular island in a broad moat, with four small free-standing pavilions at the island's corners. The corps de logis is taller than the symmetrical lower wings, one of which contains the chapel. The facade is of Westphalian sandstone.
Construction began in 1703 under orders from Friedrich Christian von Plettenberg, the Prince-Bishop of Münster, following plans by architect Gottfried Laurenz Pictorius. The complex was later expanded by Johann Conrad Schlaun, who also reworked the garden design and completed the ensemble by the mid-18th century.
The name Nordkirchen comes from the village of Nordkirchen, whose parish church gave the settlement its name; the palace stands on the site of the Morrien family's water castle. The chapel can be rented for weddings, and the grounds are used for walks along the canals and parterres.
The site now houses an administrative college, but visitors can join guided tours of selected rooms and the garden. The park is open to the public and suitable for a longer walk along the waterways and through the avenues.
The chapel contains ceiling frescoes and marble sculptures by Johann Wilhelm Gröninger from 1721, among the few surviving original works of that period. The moats and canals follow a geometric pattern based on Dutch models and still shape the view of the entire complex today.
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