Morsbroich Castle

Schloss Morsbroich stands in Leverkusen’s Alkenrath district, a former commandery of the Teutonic Knights. Its red-brick core dates from the 18th century when Ignaz Felix von Roll replaced a ruined medieval house with a light rococo château. The surrounding park, laid out at the same time in the English landscape style, still frames the building with sweeping lawns and mature trees. The site’s layered past begins with a fortified farm built for Udo Mor von Rode in the 13th century. By 1328 the Moyr von Broich family held the estate, and in the 17th century it became a residence for successive Land Commanders of the German Order. Among them was Jobst Moritz Droste zu Senden, who restored the nearby Gezelinus chapel and encouraged pilgrimages to the local saint. Visitors today enter a building restored to its rococo elegance, its two later side wings added by the Diergardt family in the 19th century. Inside, the Museum Morsbroich displays modern art in rooms once used by the Knights. Outside, gravel paths lead through the park where lime avenues and a small pond reflect the château’s refined silhouette.