Haus Vorhelm, Water castle in Vorhelm, Ahlen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Haus Vorhelm is a moated castle on the northern edge of Vorhelm, a district of Ahlen. Its two-storey, two-winged manor house stands on the main island of a system of six islands enclosed by moats. The main wing has a massive ground floor with a two-storey timber-framed upper section, dated by dendrochronology to around 1455 and extended southward in 1541. The massive south wing of 1601 has a three-step gable and a two-storey oriel.

Haus Vorhelm probably arose on a fief of the Überwasser Abbey in Münster, whose main farm at Vorhelm is recorded in 11th-century documents. The Torck family, the earliest known owners, may have built the noble seat in the 12th century, though they are only attested at Haus Vorhelm in 1413. After the Torck line died out, the estate passed through a branch of the von Westerholt family to the Freiherren Droste zu Vischering in 1715.

The name Vorhelm is documented as the main farm of the Überwasser Abbey in Münster in 11th-century records, and the Torck family, the oldest known owners, are attested at the house only in 1413. The baroque gatehouse with drawbridge on the outer bailey is the entrance visitors cross today, and two historic mills and an old sheepfold stand outside the moated castle.

Haus Vorhelm lies at the northern edge of the Vorhelm district of Ahlen, in the Warendorf district. The baroque gatehouse with drawbridge leads to the Vorburg, where two 20th-century farm buildings stand; the main island with the manor house is reached from there. Two historic mills and an old sheepfold stand outside the moated complex.

Haus Vorhelm's moat system surrounds not one but six islands, with the two-storey, two-winged manor house on the main island. Two historic mills and an old sheepfold stand outside the moated castle, and a baroque gatehouse with a drawbridge leads onto the outer bailey, where two 20th-century farm buildings remain.