Schede Manor

Gut Schede in Herdecke, Westphalia, is a noble seat and current farm, dating back to the 9th century and also known as Haus Schede.

The oldest preserved part of the estate, located on a hill of the Ardey Mountains above the Ruhr, is a farmhouse from the 17th century, where Judge Reinermann zu Wetter lived as owner from 1640.

From 1748, the family of industrialist Peter Harkort lived here. They helped shape the beginning of iron and steel production in the Ruhr area with the construction of a raw steel hammer in the neighboring town of Wetter as part of industrialization. Friedrich Harkort was also buried after his death in the forest of Gut Schede in the nearby Harkort family burial site.

The manor house was built in 1810 from Ruhr sandstone and its interior was redesigned at the beginning of the 20th century through the mediation of patron Karl Ernst Osthaus by architects and designers Henry van de Velde and Peter Behrens.

Gut Schede remains in the possession of the Harkort family to this day and, as private property, is only partially accessible; it can only be reached on foot. In the main barn (built in 1805), which features an almost unique self-supporting roof structure and is considered a test for the construction of the manor house with the same roof, art exhibitions for talented artists and associated concerts have regularly taken place once a year for three days since 1995, following the tradition of the Harkort family, also on the approximately 200-year-old lime tree avenue. Meanwhile, some sculptures from recent years are located on the avenue. The privately used Art Nouveau rooms are also very rarely accessible to the public.

Image source: www.wehrbauten.de