Scheppen Manor

Haus Scheppen is a former noble feudal estate of Werden Abbey in the Fischlaken district of Essen. With up to 23 sub-farms, the fortified estate was one of the largest Werden feudal estates in the Middle Ages. Its namesakes were the Lords of Scheppen, who were the feudal tenants of the house in the 14th century.

The complex is located on the southern bank of Lake Baldeney at the confluence of the Hesperbach into the Ruhr. It is now owned by the city of Essen and is freely accessible. In February 1985, Haus Scheppen was added to Essen's list of architectural monuments, and in 1994 also to the list of archaeological monuments.

The former feudal estate is now a partial ruin with a rectangular floor plan, surrounded on all sides by moats. These are fed by Lake Baldeney, are equipped with wooden jetties and are used as boat moorings.

Of the former enclosed four-wing complex made of Ruhr sandstone, parts of the northwest and southeast wings still exist, as well as the gastronomically used northeast wing. The northwest front with the round-arched main portal is flanked by the remains of two mighty, square corner towers, of which the western one still has its three stories, while only the ground floor of the eastern tower remains. All preserved building fabric dates from the 17th century. At the eastern ends of the northwest and southeast wings, the wall breaks of the demolished southwest wing are visible.

Haus Scheppen has been verifiable since the 13th century. In 1344, Gillburg von Scheppen was documented as a feudal tenant of the complex. The Lords of Scheppen held the hereditary seneschal office of Werden Abbey and the hereditary chamberlain office of Essen Abbey. In the 15th century, the knight Kracht Stecke (also known as Kracht von Stecks), who was already the owner of the neighboring Haus Baldeney, succeeded the Lords of Scheppen as feudal tenant of the estate. Further occupants in the 18th century included the Barons von Bottlenberg, called Schirp, and the baronial family von Ritz.

In 1930, Haus Scheppen served as accommodation for miners from the nearby Pörtingsiepen colliery and was surrounded by a moat in 1935 when Lake Baldeney was dammed.

During World War II, the southwest wing of the complex was severely damaged by bomb hits during an air raid in 1944. All roofs of the house burned down in the resulting fire. The destroyed wing was subsequently demolished.

Since the 1960s, the city of Essen has been looking for an investor willing to rebuild Haus Scheppen and put it to meaningful use. So far, however, all plans have failed due to the expected enormous financial outlay, which the city estimates at around 20 million euros. The problem today is that the complex was surrounded by moats at the time, for which it was not architecturally designed. Due to the constant exposure to water, the historical building fabric is now very dilapidated. In March 2000, a roughly 20-meter long section of the approximately seven-meter high outer facade of the northwest wing collapsed. Since, among other things, the western corner tower was also in acute danger of collapse, it had to be subsequently removed down to the height of the ground floor.