Langelage Manor

The knight's seat can be counted among the few estates of the Prince-Bishopric that are in the hands of a family whose ancestors once created the estate. Langelage was still a peasant inheritance in the 14th century, belonging to Arenshorst Castle. In 1388, the farm was owned by the von Bar family, who probably developed it into a manor house. Through inheritance, the estate repeatedly came into the hands of other families. In 1884, Otto von Bar became lord of Langelage. His descendants are still the owners of the estate today. A visit is not possible.

The old manor house from the 16th century, located deep in the lowlands, has survived the times undamaged. The simple two-story, plastered half-timbered building can be regarded as characteristic of an unpretentious knight's seat of the late Middle Ages. A modest bell tower on the roof and a large clock face high above the front door recall the time when the bell called for the punctual start of manual and draft services. Originally, the manor house, built on an almost square floor plan, together with stables and farm buildings, formed a rectangular complex protected by a moat. A drawing from 1803 by the then lady of the manor shows the manor house with outbuildings as a closed building complex. In place of the demolished outbuildings, an isolated residential and commercial wing was erected in 1936.

About 100 meters east of the old building, which no longer met the growing demands, Johann Heinrich Ludwig von Oer and his wife Helene Beate Sabine Dorothea von Westerholt built the current manor house in 1724, which is very balanced and solid in its proportions.
Its conception is reminiscent of the noble seat of Bruche. The two-story, elongated, plastered quarry stone building with corner quoins is covered by a high hip roof. The center of the house is only subtly emphasized by a double-flight open staircase and main entrance with the coat of arms of the builders above the lintel. To the right and left of the manor house, separated from it by a moat, are the orangery and a building that formerly stored the wood supplies for the manor house's ovens. The orangery, built after 1764 by Ludwig Dietrich Freiherr von Münster, was long used for cultivating exotic plants.

After the construction of the manor house, a garden in the French style was laid out. Its main axis was the extended central axis of the castle, which also transitioned on the front side of the building with an avenue over two kilometers long into an original forest and meadow landscape. As a special feature, it should be mentioned that Delft tiles adorn the walls of a living room in Langelage. The "wounds" on many tiles show that the gleaming blue splendor was not always to the taste of the lord of the house. Here were stuck the nails from which portraits and landscape paintings hung, covering the bare tiles. Originally, Dutch tiles also adorned the walls, pantry, and toilet. Saltpeter damage necessitated their removal. The spacious staircase appears as an ancestral gallery of the castle lord. Here, Count von Münster looks down from the wall, who represented the national interests at the Congress of Vienna as Royal British and Hanoverian State and Cabinet Minister. Elsewhere, Lieutenant General von Oer, who distinguished himself in the campaign against the Turks in Morea, looks at the viewer. The commander's staff, chainmail, cloak, saber, and dagger of Bassa Chabil, as well as a field sash, which the Republic of Venice presented to the German troop leader in recognition of his services, recall the battle of August 7, 1685.