Schloss Menden, Medieval castle in Menden, Germany

Schloss Menden is a former castle and administrative seat of the archbishops of Cologne in Menden, Sauerland. The surviving complex includes the 14th-century Rentschreiberturm, a square tower with a half-timbered upper storey and hipped roof, and an octagonal stair tower from a wing added around 1570.

The Cologne archbishop's administrative seat in Menden replaced the castle of Rodenberg, destroyed in 1301; by 1304 an Amtmann is recorded "in Menden", and in 1313 the "Burg Menden" is first named explicitly, with castle fiefs granted to Burgmannen. In 1344 the counts of Mark and Arnsberg destroyed town and castle, and an agreement of 1347 between Archbishop Walram and Engelbert III of Mark covered its rebuilding, incorporating it into the town's eastern fortifications. Around 1570 a connecting wing was added between the main building and the Rentmeisterturm.

The name Schloss only came into use in the 17th century for the seat of the Cologne archbishopric's Amtmann in Menden. The complex kept its administrative role over the centuries: in 1343 Archbishop Walram of Jülich obliged Johann von Reifferscheid to spend 200 small guilders a year building at the castle in Menden. The Rentschreiberturm recalls the rent office of the estate.

The fortification is accessible for viewing its exterior features, from the stone tower to the modern glass addition that integrates it with the rest of the complex. Check in advance which areas allow public access, since portions of the building remain in active use as municipal offices.

The Rentschreiberturm, a square tower with a half-timbered upper storey and hipped roof, survives from the 14th century. The octagonal stair tower belongs to an intermediate wing added around 1570 between the main building and the Rentschreiberturm. A shard found when the cellar floor of the former castle distillery was lowered dates from the period of the first castle.