Hertefeld Castle

Hertefeld Castle stands in Weeze, a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, as a ruin with an attached park. It began as a knight’s seat in the fourteenth century and once belonged to an independent domain before coming under the dukedom of Cleves. The Herteveld family regained control but later passed it to relatives facing financial trouble. By the seventeenth century the estate had grown to include several castles and manors across the region. Samuel von und zu Hertefeld turned it into a Baroque residence in the early eighteenth century. The family hosted notable guests such as Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Emperor Wilhelm II. The castle’s history is marked by changes in ownership and style. After a fire in 1945 only the Renteigebäude survived intact, though it was repaired soon after. Restoration between 1998 and 2006 recreated parts of the main building and its tower using historic plans. A bronze bell weighing 280 kg was installed in the rebuilt tower, bearing the family motto. The surrounding park, once laid out in French style, was redesigned in English landscape style after the war. Today the estate remains in the family’s hands and operates as a hotel. Visitors find a mix of old and new. The restored castle ruin and its Baroque tower stand beside the well-kept Renteigebäude and keeper’s lodges. The five-hectare park contains remnants of the old moat and traces of the French garden, now blended into the English landscape design. Inside the hotel, function rooms occupy spaces once used for grand gatherings. The grounds also include a small animal park and an earlier agricultural yard. Events, weddings and conferences are held among these historic surroundings.