Lede Castle

Lede Castle in the Vilich district of Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, was originally a Romanesque residential tower, which over time developed into a Gothic moated castle. It is designated as a building and archaeological monument.

The earliest documented mentions date back to the 14th century. In 1360, the original Romanesque residential tower was expanded into a Gothic castle complex by Knight Johann Schillinck. The castle was destroyed in the Truchsessian War in 1583. Vilich Abbey bought the ruin and the associated estate in 1761. After the dissolution of the abbey (1804), the castle initially passed to the Principality of Nassau-Usingen, in 1806 to the Grand Duchy of Berg, and in 1815 to the Prussian state, which sold it in 1820 to the Cologne banker Herstatt. In 1904, the industrialist Otto Weinlig converted the castle into a country estate with an English-style park and a smaller garden parterre. In 1910, he also had a coachman's and gatehouse built. In 1930, the castle passed through the de Claer family and the director of Dillinger Hütte, Otto Weinlig, to Countess Berghe von Trips. After the Second World War, Lede Castle served the English as a command headquarters for the commander and later British Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington.