Burg Bocholt

Burg Bocholt stands in Lobberich, a district of Nettetal in the Viersen district of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a former moated castle at the foot of the Süchtelner Heights. The site is set in a bowl-shaped basin about 200 metres long and 150 metres wide. Two moats still run along the west and south sides, and an earthwork rampart surrounds the whole. The Kaiserturm once formed the heart of the old complex.

The castle first appears in records in 1096, though the name Gerald de Bocholt in 1242 marks the start of the Bocholt noble family’s long influence across Europe. By 1358 the stronghold had been enlarged into a fortress, and in 1450 a forecourt with farm buildings was added. After passing through marriage to the Mirbach zu Harff family in 1748, the main castle was probably destroyed during the Seven Years’ War. The 21.5-metre Kaiserturm collapsed in 1905, leaving only a stub of wall.

Visitors today find the restored forecourt and farm buildings, where the Burg Bocholt Event GmbH preserves the historic fabric. The four-storey Kaiserturm still shows its brick construction, massive walls and a vaulted cellar. Above the first floor, where the chapel once stood, large round-headed windows light the upper levels, and a row of four battlements crowns each side. The chapel vault survives with its cross ribs of Niedermendiger tuff and a round keystone. Nearby, the 15th-century gatehouse has a six-metre vaulted ground floor and small corner turrets under a hipped roof.