Schloss Moers

The Moerser Schloss stands in the centre of Moers, between the Kastellplatz and the city park. It was the seat of the counts and princes of Moers and is the oldest known building in the town. A great fire in 1605 destroyed many records of its early years, leaving only fragments of its history. Today the castle houses the Grafschafter Museum and the Stadttheater. Archaeologists from the Rheinisches Amt für Denkmalpflege uncovered remains of the original structure between 2000 and 2003. The first building was a square tower of tuff built about 1200, its stone probably taken from the former Roman camp at Asciburgium. The tower’s walls were about seven metres long, and its foundations still lie in the castle courtyard. By the 13th century the lords had raised a circular mound around the tower to support further buildings. A strong ring wall of reused Roman bricks enclosed the site, making it one of the oldest brick structures in the Rhineland. Visitors enter through a later gatehouse that replaced the old north tower. The surviving medieval wall now forms an internal corridor linking the remaining wings. The castle was once surrounded by water-filled moats arranged in a star shape, traces of which can still be seen from above. Inside, the Grafschafter Museum displays local history, while the Stadttheater presents plays and concerts. The surrounding park, laid out in 1836, offers a quiet walk among trees and lawns.