Wilhelmstein Castle

Burg Wilhelmstein is a castle ruin in the Wurm valley on its eastern bank near the Würselen district of Bardenberg in the Aachen city region. It houses an open-air stage and is a venue for concerts, cabaret, and cinema every year from May to September.

The castle was built with rubble stone walls and a defensive bastion as a refuge castle, so that in times of war and distress, the population from the feudal estates and from the village of Bardenberg could find protection there. The ruin consists of an outer bailey originally protected by a moat with a round tower and a Gothic archway, as well as the formerly five-story keep with an adjoining palas. The round tower of the outer bailey was originally the castle's dungeon, and the role of the drawbridge chain can still be seen today.

At the time of the Germanic tribes, the Wurm formed the border between the Jülichgau and the Maasgau at the site of the castle; later, during the time of church rule, between the Archdiocese of Cologne and the Diocese of Liège. In the Middle Ages, the border of the Aachen Empire ran about 1 km to the south.

From 1265 to 1269, Count Wilhelm IV of Jülich built Burg Wilhelmstein, named after him, on the remains of an older border fortress. However, it was not mentioned in writing until 1344. Originally, it was the seat of the Jülich office of Wilhelmstein, one of the offices in the Duchy of Berg, which included, among other things, Bank, Bardenberg, Broich, Dürwiß, Euchen, Hamich, Hastenrath, Heistern, Kohlscheid, Langerwehe, Linden-Neusen, Niederbardenberg, Nothberg, Ofden, Pley, Volkenrath, Vorweiden, and Werth, in addition to three courts.

Burg Wilhelmstein suffered particularly from the devastation by French troops of Louis XIV in 1690/1691, who made the Rhineland unsafe on their raids. In the War of the Spanish Succession at the beginning of the 18th century, the complex was severely damaged. The castle had changed owners several times over the centuries. The French declared Wilhelmstein and the surrounding forests state property and sold the estate to private individuals.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the French administration declared the castle and its surrounding forests state property and sold the estate to private individuals. In 1825, already belonging to Prussia and most recently owned by the von der Brügghen family, the estate was forcibly auctioned for 1,500 gold thalers to the family of the Prussian district administrator Friedrich Joseph Freiherr von Coels von der Brügghen, whose descendants resold the estate in 1950 to the current owners, the Grafen family.