Wasserschloss Wilkinghege, Renaissance water castle in Kinderhaus, Münster, Germany
Wasserschloss Wilkinghege is a moated country estate in the Kinderhaus district of Münster, built from 1550 for the Steveninck zu Broich family on the site of an older Wasserburg. Gottfried Laurenz Pictorius rebuilt it in 1719 for Herr von Harde and Katharina von Keppel. After a 1958 fire it was reconstructed largely true to the original.
The castle was built around 1550 to replace an older defensive structure that no longer met the family's needs. It underwent major renovations in the early 1700s that gave it the form we see today.
The castle shows how nobility lived and arranged their homes in the 16th century. You can see how spaces were divided between formal areas for receiving guests and private family rooms.
The castle functions as a hotel and restaurant today, welcoming overnight guests and diners. The grounds are accessible for walking around the exterior, allowing you to view the moat and building from different angles.
Werner-Constantin Freiherr Droste zu Hülshoff, brother of the poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, was among the residents and managers of the estate. The poet herself is listed among the guests who stayed here over the centuries, alongside Prince-Bishop Christoph Bernhard von Galen and General Jean-Baptiste Kléber.
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