Burg Botzlar, Medieval castle in Selm, Germany

Burg Botzlar is a two-story, six-axis rubble-stone building with corner quoins, erected in the early 19th century; medieval bergfried remains are probably incorporated in its southwest corner. The main castle island was once flanked to the west by a bailey island with two rows of buildings, and the whole complex was enclosed by a broad rampart hedge. Of the medieval structures, a 1587 partition contract names a stone house, an adjacent house with hall, chamber and cellars, a building house, a summer house, bridges, moats and gates.

Burg Botzlar was first documented in 1282, when it was transferred to the Bishop of Münster, who developed it into a border fortress against the Counts of Mark. The castle was destroyed in 1305 during a feud between Wulf zu Wulfsberg and the Count of Mark, rebuilt, and destroyed again by the Counts of Mark in 1369. In 1315 it was pledged to the Münster-Meinhövel family, who held it until 1597, when it passed by inheritance to the Ascheberg family; around 1750 it came to the Counts of Landsberg-Velen zu Gemmen.

The name Botzlar comes from the lords of Meinhövel, who called themselves von Botzlar from 1250. Before Bork and Selm merged in 1975, the plan to name the new municipality Botzlar was dropped in favour of Selm. In 1587 an inheritance contract listed a stone house, a house with hall, parlour and cellars, a summer house, bridges, moats and gates.

The castle stands in Selm, about 30 km from Dortmund Airport, and can be reached by car or public transport. The inner moat was filled in during the 1960s, so the water defenses are only partly visible today. The site is not on a hill; it lies on level ground within the former moated layout.

Before Bork and Selm merged in 1975, plans considered naming the new municipality Botzlar, after the castle; the idea was dropped and the name Selm prevailed. The castle's inner moat was filled in only in the 1960s.