Gelsdorf Castle

The origins of Gelsdorf Castle date back to 1220, when a moated castle was first documented as the ancestral seat of the Lords of Gelsdorf. In the 13th and 14th centuries, members of this family served as vassals of the Electorate of Cologne. Later in the 14th century, the property passed to Johann von Saffenburg, whose inheritance in turn fell to the Count of Virneburg. In 1554, Count Dietrich von Manderscheid became the heir to the estate. In 1716, Baron Lothar Friedrich von Hundheim was enfeoffed with the castle. After several changes of ownership, including Johann Bernhard von Halberg (1734) and Konstantin von Gruben, the current three-winged moated castle, built in the French style, was erected by Konstantin von Gruben in 1766. It replaced the older castle from the second half of the 13th century, of which vaults and a Romanesque column are still preserved in the garden floor. In 1820, Gruben's granddaughters mortgaged the property, which was later acquired by Baron von Geyr at a compulsory auction.