Styrum (; sometimes spelled "Stirum") was an immediate lordship in the Holy Roman Empire, located in

Mülheim an der Ruhr Mülheim, officially Mülheim an der Ruhr (, ; ; ) and also described as ''"City on the River"'', is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is home ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It held no seat in the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

and was circumvened by the Lordship of Broich. The exact date of construction of its castle is unknown. Styrum was already prosperous in

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

times before

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

(late 8th century). In 1067 Styrum was given to the Abbacy of Kaiserswerth. After the murder of the

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

, Engelbert of Berg, in 1225, the descendants of Frederick I of Isenberg gained ownership of Mülheim on the river Ruhr and thereby of the castle Styrum and the castle Hohenlimburg on the river Lenne. They founded the line of Counts of Limburg zu Hohenlimburg and Lords of Limburg zu Styrum. The family obtained important estates in

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

and the

Lower Rhine Lower Rhine (, ; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Bonn in Germany and the North Sea at Hook of Holland in the Netherlands, including the '' Nederrijn'' () within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta; alternat ...

. With the partition of the House of Limburg Styrum in 1644, Styrum passed to the line of Limburg-Styrum-Styrum. Styrum was rebuilt in Baroque style in 1668, and it received its present form after a fire in 1738. In the

mediatisation Mediatization or mediatisation may refer to: * German mediatisation, German historical territorial restructuring * Mediatization (media) Mediatization (or medialization) is a method whereby the mass media influence other sectors of society, inclu ...

of 1806, Styrum came under control of the

Grand Duchy of Berg The Grand Duchy of Berg (), also known as the Grand Duchy of Berg and Cleves, was a territorial grand duchy established in 1806 by Napoleon after his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) on territories between the French Empire at the Rhi ...

. The line of Limburg-Styrum-Styrum became extinct in 1809. The last count of the Styrum branch of the family, Ernst Maria Johan (deceased on 23 March 1809) in his will of 29 January 1808 donated Styrum to the sister of his wife: Maria Margaretha von Humbracht, who sold it in 1825. Styrum was purchased by the German industrialist August Thyssen in 1890. His company gave the castle to the city of Mülheim in 1960. It was transformed into a restaurant, artist studio and community centre for the elderly in 1992. The community of Styrum is now part of the cities of

and

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

. Its local soccer team, FC Styrum, renamed FC Mülheim in 1975, was successful from the 1950s to the 1980s, even playing in the ''2. Bundesliga-Nord''. The name "Styrum" originates from "Stiarhem", meaning "Bulls Home" in the early medieval local dialect.

Literature

* Rawe, Kai: ''Schloss Styrum'' (2010). In: Niederhöfer, Kai (ed.): ''Burgen AufRuhr. Unterwegs zu 100 Burgen, Schlössern und Herrensitzen in der Ruhrregion''. Essen: Klartext Verlag, p. 301–304.

External links

Castles in North Rhine-Westphalia House of Limburg-Stirum Buildings and structures in Mülheim {{NorthRhineWestphalia-struct-stub