Büren Castles

The Burg Büren was a medieval castle in Büren, a town in the Paderborn district of North Rhine-Westphalia. It stood in the north-west of the old town, close to the river Alme. Records from 1153 mention a Thietmar de Buren, suggesting the site was already fortified by the mid-12th century. The Edelherren von Büren held the castle until 1661, when Moritz von Büren left it to the Jesuits. In 1716 the structure was demolished and replaced by a college building. The castle occupied the spot now taken by the Bürener Mauritiusschule and its courtyard. Its west side leaned against the town wall. Surviving images show three tall buildings at least three storeys high arranged around a central courtyard. A moat separated these from farm buildings to the south and a garden to the east. The entrance was through a gatehouse topped with a low-pitched roof. The Jesuitenkirche now stands where the three-winged farm complex once stood, its north wing made up of several smaller structures. The Meierei, the castle’s dairy and farmyard, stretched along the entire north side of the town. The site’s history is documented in works by Reinhard Oberschelp and Maria Willeke. Stefan Eismann’s entry in the EBIDAT database and the private Alle Burgen collection provide further details about the castle’s layout and ownership.