Geist Castle

The origins of Haus Geist may lie in a medieval castle belonging to the Lords of Geist, whose most famous representative was the canon Bernhard von Geist in the 13th century. Before 1427, the property was owned by the Wolff von Lüdinghausen family, later passing to the von Oer family. Through the daughter of the bailiff Jaspar von Oer, it temporarily fell to the von Nesselrode family before coming into the possession of the von Loë family in the 16th century. Between 1560 and 1568, Laurenz von Brachum the Elder and his sons constructed a new building in the Lippe Renaissance style. In 1593, the castle came to Joachim von Büren through marriage. Moritz von Büren transferred Haus Geist, along with his other possessions, to the Jesuit order, which established a branch there from 1661. After a fire, the north wing was rebuilt in Baroque style between 1750 and 1755 according to plans by Franz Christoph Nagel. Following the dissolution of the order, the house fell to the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in 1773 and later to the Prussian state, which leased it in 1884.