Leerodt Castle (Geilenkirchen)

The first documented mention of Leerodt Water Castle dates back to 1354. From the 14th century onwards, it served as the ancestral seat of the Leerodt family and was a fief of the Lords of Randerath, later of the Lords of Heinsberg. Around 1578, Christoph von Leerodt expanded the original water castle, and in 1616, the outer bailey was constructed. Heinrich Wilhelm, his grandson and court master in Düsseldorf, built the manor house in 1647. During World War II, the manor house was severely damaged and is now a ruin. With Clemens August von Leerodt, the lineage died out in the male line in 1829. The widow of his nephew, a born Baroness von Eynatten-Trips, did not inhabit the castle, leading to its decay. Already in 1840, a part of the manor house had to be demolished. After her death in 1882, Leerodt passed to her grandson Georg Schütz von Leerodt. Towards the end of World War II, the castle served as an emergency hospital for the US Army.