Broich Manor (Anrath)

After a sale in 1865, the estate lay vacant and gradually fell into disrepair, with a fire largely destroying the outer bailey. In 1895, a Cologne manufacturer acquired the property. He had the original manor house demolished and erected the current Haus Broich in its place in 1898. The farm buildings were also rebuilt as a quadrangular farmstead around the turn of the century. During World War II, the manor house remained largely undamaged, with only the upper part of the large tower being affected. In 1946, at the suggestion of the then Aachen Bishop Johannes Joseph van der Velden, nuns from the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Elisabeth moved in to establish a retreat. This soon became a children's home for refugee children from Silesia. From 1956 to 1976, the property also housed a special needs boarding school for resettler children.