Haus Horst, Water castle in Heek, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Haus Horst is a water castle on the Ahauser Aa river in Heek, featuring a manor house in northwestern German style surrounded by moats. The building combines several service structures and shows the typical layout of fortified construction and living quarters.

Around 1580, Jakob von Keppel and his wife Elsebe von Münster commissioned its construction and initially named it Haus Keppelhorst. About 100 years later, Heinrich Bruchhausen, a secretary to the Bishop, carried out extensive renovations that shaped its appearance until today.

The castle shows the building style of water fortifications in the region, where defensive features blend with a residence for the nobility. This design was widespread across Westphalia and continues to shape the landscape today.

Haus Horst is a private residence and can only be viewed from outside. It stands on the 100-Schlösser-Route in the Münsterland, a signposted cycling route linking castles in the region. The moat and brick manor house are visible from the surrounding paths.

On the family cemetery laid out in 1886, the gravestone of banker and art collector Hugo von Hartmann, who died at Haus Horst in 1888, is still preserved. His daughter Antoinette married Baron Franz von Dalwigk zu Lichtenfels in 1879 and became heiress of the estate; their descendant Michael Wolfering owns it today.