Haus Balken, Manor house in Marienbaum district, Xanten, Germany.

Haus Balken is a three-story manor house with plastered yellow facades and regularly spaced windows located northwest of Xanten. The building comprises multiple wings, including a chapel annex added in the late 1700s that forms part of the residential complex.

Duke Adolf of Cleves had a moated house built at the start of the 15th century where the road between Xanten and Cleves crossed the Klever Landwehr, a fortification directed against Kurköln. First recorded in 1419 as "onse huys ... tussen den tween slachboemen", it was ruined in the Eighty Years' War and sold as a ruin in 1604. Dietrich van der Brüggen rebuilt it after 1657; from 1776 Wilhelm van Essen began a radical remodelling, and in 1871/72 it passed to Hubert Underberg.

The manor was an important seat of local authority and its rooms show typical features of refined rural life in the Lower Rhine region. The chapel on the grounds served as the center of religious life for the family and their household staff.

The property is best reached via the B57 federal road that runs directly from nearby Xanten. Visitors should note that the manor remains a private residence and photography is only possible from the outside.

The name comes from 'Hof ten Balke', referring to its original location between two toll barriers that controlled trade traffic in the area. These barriers made the property an important checkpoint for regional commerce and security.