Böckel Castle (Bieren)

Gut Böckel ( → cf. Dehnungs-c) is a moated castle and manor house in the Bieren district of Rödinghausen, in the Herford district, North Rhine-Westphalia.

The moated castle was first mentioned in 1350. It was initially owned by the knight Alhard, known as Rape von dem Bussche. The first castle stood northeast of the current complex. This Altenböckel probably came into the possession of the von Hake family around the middle of the 15th century, who had their ancestral seat at Scheventorf Castle near Bad Iburg. The manor of Böckel was divided at that time. The von Hake family owned the part which, like the Bieren farming community, was parished to Rödinghausen. This Altenböckel was later also called Hakenböckel after the von Hake family. Nothing remains of the manor buildings today. The other part, which predominantly belonged to the parish of Bünde, was owned by the von Quernheim family (see Neufeld and Griese). They had acquired their part before 1495 from the von dem Bussche-Gesmold family. Through inheritance, this part of the estate came to the von Voss family around 1540. After them, the estate was called Gut Vossböckel for about 200 years. In 1689, the von Voss family acquired Hakenböckel (Altenböckel) and thus reunited the estates. The current Baroque complex with two characteristic corner towers dates from 1682. In 1763, the estate came into the possession of Wilhelm Rudolf von Buttlar through the marriage of the inheriting daughter of the von Voss family. In 1771, he sold the estate to Ernst ldel von Vincke, who also owned Haus Kilver. In 1820, the estate was sold to the previous tenant Friedrich Gottlieb Köhne. In 1842, the estate was sold to Gustav Delius. Already in 1874, the estate was bought by Leopold Koenig for his son Carl Koenig. His daughter Hertha Koenig was born at Gut Böckel. Hertha Koenig was a poet, art collector, and patron. In 1927, she took over the administration of the estate and the neighboring Gut Waghorst. Together, the estate lands were the largest property in the Herford district. When Hertha Koenig died in 1976, the estate fell to the Norwegian and her great-nephew H. Jörgensen. The current owner is the entrepreneur Ernst Leffers, who took over the estate in 1991.