Exploring Wendlinghausen and Reelkirchen.
Last week Sunday, we headed out for a short road trip in North-Rhine Westphalia and visited two castles.
Schloß Wendlinghausen
Wendlinghausen Castle is a moated castle located in Dörentrup. It was commissioned by Hilmar von Münchhausen and built in the Weser Renaissance style in 1613 to 1616. The castle is still owned by descendants of von Münchhausen (now the von Reden family). The castle was extensively restored in 2001 and 2003. It is now used for private cultural events and weddings. The castle is surrounded by a three-hectare English-style park containing diverse and rare flora, which is open to the public.
Schloß Reelkirchen
Reelkirchen Castle is an old moated castle in Blomberg. The original moated castle was commissioned by Hermann VIII von Mengersen in 1600, but this castle no longer exists. Only the outer walls of site were rebuilt in 1774 and a stone bridge leading to property was built in 1798. Since 1755, there has been a large manor house on the site of the old castle. The manor has a room called the “wallpaper room”, where French wallpapers featuring three Venetian scenes were installed in 1810. The castle and its surrounding buildings were extensively renovated in 1935 and 1967-1975. While the castle is privately owned and typically not open to the public, art and cultural events are hosted there on a regular basis.
I will be back with more photographs and stories from the road in the coming weeks!