Laer Manor

Haus Laer, a moated castle in the southeast of Bochum at Höfestraße 45, is one of the oldest noble residences in the Ruhr area. As early as 890, the Lahari (pasture) farm is mentioned in the register of the Werden Abbey. The buildings of the manor were erected in 940. Its main house with half-timbered walls rests on an oak pile foundation from the 10th century.

When the complex belonged to the dominion of the Counts of Mark, Heinrich von Vittinghoven received it as a fief around 1243. From 1480, it belonged to the von Leithen family; later it passed into the possession of the Frielinghaus family.