Schloss Tüschenbroich

Schloss Tüschenbroich stands in a quiet valley west of Mönchengladbach where the Schwalm rises. The oldest part is a vanished water castle whose round island still shows the remains of the medieval motte. In 1172 the place was first recorded as Thuschinbroc, and later it belonged to the dukes of Jülich. After the Thirty Years War the estate was bought by Franz von Spiering, who rebuilt it in brick as a Baroque schloss. A storm in 1876 damaged the roofs, and today the buildings remain in private hands.

The estate once ran two mills. The oil mill, a thatched half-timbered building from the 18th century, worked until 1912 making linseed oil. Its undershot wheel turned a millstone that crushed flax seed for six hours a day in earlier times. Now the mill houses a glass-art studio and is used for events. Nearby, in the Tüschenbroich forest, stands the early-Baroque Ulrichskapelle built about 1640 by the Spiering family. Inside hangs a bell cast in 1587 by Heinrich von Trier of Aachen, and the oak door is carved in Renaissance style.

Visitors walk through the wooded grounds to the chapel and the old island site where the first castle stood. The water meadows around the mill pond offer minigolf, fishing and boat hire in summer. The Schwalm valley and the surrounding forest form part of the Maas-Schwalm-Nette nature park, making the area popular for short walks and cycling routes.