Gut Loxten, Manor estate and water castle in Nortrup, Germany

Gut Loxten is a former water castle and manor estate in the Loxten district of Nortrup. The main island holds a two-storey Dutch Renaissance house with a rear central risalit and a front portico, flanked by two side buildings with projecting corner towers and two five-sided pavilions at the north corners. The outer bailey, whose moats are missing to the south and east, retains one of four former service buildings, and a large garden island lies to the north.

Johann von Dinklage built the castle in 1474 on an existing farm, probably brought into the marriage by his wife Rixa von Brawe as a fief of the County of Tecklenburg. In 1649 the Loxten line of the Dinklage family died out in the male line, and the estate passed by marriage in 1653 to Rittmeister Franz von Frydag zu Buddenburg. His son sold it in 1682 to Christian Günther von Hammerstein, who had the present castle built between 1691 and 1698.

The name Loxten is tied to the von Dincklage family, who built the castle in 1474. The present building, erected between 1691 and 1698 for Christian Günther von Hammerstein, follows the Dutch Renaissance style. The Freiherren von Hammerstein-Loxten still reside on the estate, which was renovated in 1921/22.

The main castle island is rectangular and enclosed by a wall, reached by a causeway from the outer bailey, where the water ditches survive only on the north and west; the southern and eastern moats are gone. The estate is a private residence, so visitors view the buildings and the garden island to the north from outside.

The Hammerstein-Loxten family has lived continuously in the renovated estate since acquiring it in 1682, maintaining their residence to the present day. Such continuous family occupation over several centuries remains rare for properties of this type.