Hardenberg Castle

The castle's construction is presumed to have occurred in the second half of the 13th century, when the Lords of Hardenberg, first mentioned in 1145, established a fortified structure as the center of their dominion. Its first documented mention was in 1354, when Count Heinrich von Hardenberg sold the estate to Gerhard I. Berg, after which it became a Bergian administrative district. In the 15th century, a new, three-story castle building was erected. After several changes of ownership, the castle passed to the von Bernsau family in 1529. Isabella Margaretha von Bernsau, married to Friedrich Arnold von Schaesberg, had the complex transformed into a castle between 1682 and 1696. Following a fire in 1785, the castle received its current form through an additional story and a hip roof.