The Replaced Stair Tower of Schloss Surenburg

A stair tower originally stood in the corner of the north and west wings of Schloss Surenburg but was demolished before the 18th century. It was eventually replaced in the 19th century. Located in Riesenbeck, a district of Hörstel within the Tecklenburger Land, the water castle lacks documentary records regarding its origin. It is suspected to have been founded after 1400 when the Bishop of Münster conquered Bevergern. Written records first note it in 1474 as the home of the Lords of Langen, before it passed to the Lords of Münster in 1612. In 1786, Carl Heinrich Heereman von Zuydtwyck from Roermond, Netherlands, purchased the estate. His descendants still inhabit the castle today.

The landscape features islands and water. The main castle is located west of the outer bailey. To the north, a bleaching island with its own outer moat lay on the north side of the main castle, though Karl Eugen Mummenhoff suspects a former ringwall existed at the site. The older north wing remains a two-story, cellared rubble stone building with a triangular gable from the second half of the 16th century. It stands alongside the central building and south tract, which were built during the second half of the 18th century.

Changes occurred throughout the 19th century. The moat between the outer and main castle was filled in during the first half of the 19th century. Old farm buildings on the outer bailey were replaced in 1832 by the Rentei in Neoclassical style. From 1864 to 1867, a Neo-Gothic chapel was added to the rear of the castle according to plans by the Cologne Cathedral master builder Hilger Hertel d. Ä. Renovations between 1868 and 1881 resulted in the current appearance, including a Renaissance-style stepped gable and the Neo-Gothic stair tower.

Today, the castle remains a lived-in home and enduring heritage. The structure showcases the heavy rubble stone of the 16th-century north wing against Neoclassical and Neo-Gothic additions. A large garden, surrounded by moats, lies south of the main castle in the North Rhine-Westphalia countryside.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons