Schloss Arff is a former

water castle A water castle, sometimes water-castle, is a castle which incorporates a natural or artificial body of water into its defences.Forde-Johnston (1979), p. 163. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbo ...

in the locality of Roggendorf/Thenhoven which belongs to Cologne. It is located 20 km northwest of Cologne city centre and directly on the border with the city of Dormagen in the Rhine district of Neuss.

History

A first documentary mention of the Knights van der Arffe, the namesake of the

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

, occurred in 1366. Albrecht von Baexen acquired the estate in 1572 through marriage to Catharina von der Arff. However, in the

Cologne War The Cologne War (, ''Kölnischer Krieg'', '' Truchsessischer Krieg''; 1583–1588) was a conflict between Protestant and Catholic factions that devastated the Electorate of Cologne, a historical ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Em ...

from 1583 to 1586, the previous building was destroyed. In 1750, Adam von Blittersdorf sold the estate to the von Buschmann family, who then arranged for the construction of the present castle within five years from 1750 to 1755. The architect was most likely the Frenchman Michael Leveilly. In 1803, the castle came to the family. After the death of Christoph Freiherr von Geyr zu Schweppenburg, his heirs sold the castle in 2015 to his niece Caroline and her husband Friedhelm von , who also run the leisure park around Schloss Dankern. Since then, SchlossArff has been used for weddings and other events. In 2019, the castle was the filming location for the television film Louis van Beethoven.''Ständiges Misstrauen'', ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' No 298, 24–27 December 2020,

Facility

Main building and

outer bailey An outer bailey or outer ward is the defended outer enclosure of a castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It protects the inner bailey and usually contains those ancillary bui ...

as well as two parallel farm buildings and the manor house form the building parts and enclose the castle courtyard. The two-part garden complex was once surrounded by a moat. However, the feeding springs have dried up. It is a so-called

Lustschloss In Renaissance and Early Modern German architecture, a ''Lustschloss'' (, both meaning "pleasure palace") is a country house, château, or palace which served the private pleasure of its owner, and was seasonally inhabited as a respite from ...

(Maison de Plaisance) in which the nobility spent the summer months in the countryside, away from the cities.

Appreciation

The mansion is attributed to the architect Michael Leveilly and is a simplified replica of

Augustusburg and Falkenlust Palaces, Brühl The Augustusburg and Falkenlust Palaces form a historical building complex in Brühl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The buildings are connected by the spacious gardens and trees of the Schlosspark. Built in the early 18th century, the palaces ...

, which is part of the

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

"Augustusburg Brühl" and where Leveilly was construction manager under

François de Cuvilliés François de Cuvilliés, sometimes referred to as ''the Elder'' (23 October 1695, Soignies, Hainaut14 April 1768, Munich), was a Bavarian decorative designer and architect born in the Spanish Netherlands. He was instrumental in bringing the Roco ...

. Leveilly also designed the in

Grevenbroich Grevenbroich () is a town in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Erft, approximately 15 km southwest of Neuss and 15 km southeast of Mönchengladbach. Cologne and Düsseldorf are in a ...

Rhein-Kreis Neuss Neuss is a Kreis (district) in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Nearby are the urban districts Mönchengladbach, Krefeld, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Cologne, the districts Rhein-Erft-Kreis, Düren, Heinsberg and the district Viersen. ...

and the historic

Rathaus In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

of the city of

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

.Hochzeitslocation
Schloss Arff in Köln

References

External links

* {{portal bar, Architecture, Germany Castles in Germany Buildings and structures demolished in the 1750s Buildings and structures in Cologne

History

Facility

Appreciation

Further reading

References

External links