Hörde Castle

The origins of Hörde Castle date back to the 12th century, when it was built as a moated castle near the Emscher River. A document from Emperor Otto IV from this period first mentions the castle along with Albert I von Hörde, whose family had their ancestral seat here. The castle tower, still preserved today, dates from this early phase. By the end of the 13th century, the castle came into the possession of the Counts of Mark, who expanded it further and used it as a stronghold during the Great Dortmund Feud. In the course of this feud, Konrad von der Mark granted the village of Hörde town rights in 1340. After the Jülich-Cleves War of Succession, the castle fell to Brandenburg-Prussia in 1614 and subsequently housed the Hörde administrative office and the seat of the Eichlinghofen court. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was occupied multiple times by various troops, until a fire in 1673, caused by French occupiers, destroyed parts of the castle, its chapel, and numerous houses in Hörde. It was later rebuilt on its existing foundations.