Evenburg, Water castle in Leer, Germany

Evenburg is a neo-Gothic water castle on a moated island in Loga, part of Leer. The first castle, built 1642–1650 for Erhard von Ehrentreuter, was a brick building in Dutch classicist style; in 1861/62 Rudolf Stüve largely rebuilt it, keeping only the outer walls, some partitions and the cellar vault, and reusing the blue-stone marble floor in the vestibule. A loggia and the Radhaus stand on the island, and the baroque Vorburg lies to the northwest.

Colonel Erhard von Ehrentreuter, commander of the Dutch garrison in Emden, built the first Evenburg between 1642 and 1650 as a Baroque water castle, naming it after his wife Eva von Ungnad. In 1690 the estate passed by marriage to the von Wedel family, who added the gatehouse; its sandstone portal is dated 1650 and the gate passage was inserted in 1703. In 1861–62 the dilapidated building was largely demolished and rebuilt in Neo-Gothic style by Hanover architect Richard Stüve, retaining only the outer walls and cellar vault.

The name Evenburg comes from Eva von Ungnad, wife of builder Erhard von Ehrentreuter. The former Vorburg now holds classrooms and a concert hall of the Kreismusikschule (district music school) and the Schlosscafé. A bell cast on site on 28 April 2013 by Simon Laudy hangs and rings there; the 1659 bell it replaced is displayed in the castle.

Visitors enter through a double avenue lined with trees and can explore the interior rooms including the main hall and grand staircase. The surrounding park offers several walking paths for touring the grounds at your own pace and enjoying views toward the river.

The castle bell, cast in 1659, once hung in the wooden roof turret above the gate passage of the Vorburg. It is now displayed inside the Evenburg. In 2013 the bell founder Simon Laudy cast a replacement on site, and that new bell is rung today.