Haskenau

The Haskenau stands on the edge of Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia where the Werse once met the Ems. It is the remains of a motte-and-bailey castle built in the 12th century on a 30-metre mound raised five to six metres above the surrounding land. A wide inner rampart and an outer wall sixty metres away enclosed about 2.5 hectares of farmsteads and paddocks. Excavations found Carolingian potsherds, showing settlement as early as Frankish times. The Droste zu Hülshoff family lived here for four generations from the 15th century, including the mayor Everwin II. In 1611 the site appears only as a place for fattening pigs in a bishop’s estate list. Today grassy banks mark the vanished walls and ditches. The tower mound still rises eleven metres above the old waterline, offering a quiet spot to imagine the busy medieval farm and fortress.