Bouvier Castle

Parts of the fixed furnishings from the turn of the century are still preserved today, such as the wall paneling and the fireplace in the dining room and former hunting room. The main body of the castle is cube-shaped and has an almost flat hip roof. The forepart is wide and slightly elevated, standing on a polygonal footprint in the center of the facade. The ground floor is at ground level and contains utility rooms marked by rectangular windows. The bedroom floor on the 1st upper floor is also represented externally by large window formats with wedge-shaped, slightly elongated downward roofing. Above that, the openings become somewhat smaller again. In the low knee wall floor, there are three coupled ox-eye windows. In total, the castle offers 70 beds, distributed over two floors.

In the park of the school country home, there are several trees over 200 years old (oaks, plane trees, lindens, copper beeches).

Johann-Joseph Richard (also Jean-Joseph Richard in some sources), a lawyer and entrepreneur from Clerf in Luxembourg, who came to Niedersgegen in 1806 through his marriage to the daughter of the lord of Ennershausen, built the "Villa Bouvier" in the neoclassical style in 1847 for his son-in-law Bouvier, who also likely came from Luxembourg. He had already built the seven-axis manor house Hofgut Petry in Körperich in 1823, modeled after Weilerbach Castle.

In 1910, the Richard family sold Bouvier Castle to a doctor named Dr. Mainz. Until this sale, the castle was part of a grand ensemble of castle estates belonging to the Richard family. During the Second World War, the house was temporarily used as a prisoner-of-war camp.

On August 1, 1956, the Association of Friends and Sponsors of Hansa-Gymnasium Cologne e. V. purchased the building and plots of land (the current 40,000 square meter park surrounding the castle) from architect Max Ziemann. The school country home was already put into operation on April 1, 1957. In the same year, a toilet facility was built. The official inauguration of the school country home was delayed until July 26, 1958. Also in 1958, the weir, which was destroyed in the Second World War, was repaired.

On July 26, 1960, the association received planning permission for a play and sports hall, which was built in June of the following year. Planning permission for the planned four-story extension was also granted on December 3, 1962. It was completed almost three years later, on November 26, 1965. In 1968, the heating system for the main building was switched from coal to oil, and an oil heating system was also added to the play and sports hall.

Further expansion activities took place in 1970, when a washroom was added and an additional dormitory was created in the attic. On August 1, 1972, retrospective planning permission was granted for the single-story extension of the "boys' washing facility". To "keep young people from going to pubs," a counter was installed in the foyer in 1978.

In 1980, renewed renovation and expansion measures took place, during which the attic was converted, new windows were installed in the old building, and the heating system was again changed. In addition, repairs were carried out on the play and sports hall. The mini-golf course moved to its current location in 1986. A year later, a new boiler system was installed.

Bouvier Castle was placed under monument protection as a cultural monument on October 11, 1999. The most recent renovation and maintenance measures were carried out in 2011.