Gripswald Castle

The origins of Haus Gripswald date back to the 12th century, when an estate named Ossum was first mentioned in documents and likely represented the precursor to the current complex. In 1422, Archbishop Dietrich of Cologne freed the Ossum estate from the service obligations of its Vogt Wilhelm von Büderich and, in return, elevated it to a fiefdom of Electoral Cologne. For a long time, the house remained in the possession of the Von Büderich family and belonged to the Electorate of Cologne until secularization. In the late 19th century, the property passed into the possession of the noble family von Arenberg, who also owned the nearby Schloss Pesch. Haus Gripswald also gained recognition through the discovery of Roman sacrificial stones in 1863, which are known as the Gripswalder Matronensteine.