Burg Westerhusen

The ruins of Burg Westerhusen lie in the village of Westerhusen, a quiet hamlet in the East Frisian municipality of Hinte, Lower Saxony. Once the seat of local judges and chieftains, the site was levelled by Hamburg’s mercenaries in 1436 after Ewe Howerda defended it against a force sent to suppress pirates and allied chieftains. After the destruction, the materials were carted off to Emden to strengthen its defences, and Ewe lost his title, signing himself thereafter as ‘former chieftain of Westerhusen’. A small Renaissance château stood on the spot by the 16th century, owned in 1529 by the chieftain Reint, before it gave way to a manor house in the 17th century. That building burned in about 1780 and was rebuilt as a country house, later bought by the land rent-master Conring. In the 19th century the estate belonged to the prosperous farmer Dirk Janssen Groenewold, who added a balcony, veranda and a decorative gable during alterations around 1860. Today the only visible remains are the Schatthaus, built about 1600, and the partly water-filled moat and rampart that once enclosed the stronghold. Both are protected monuments, standing amid farmland and the former castle garden now managed by the Hinte council.