Oefte Castle

Schloss Oefte was first documented in the 9th century as a fief of the Imperial Abbey of Werden. The name of the castle is interpreted as “forest house by the river.” In the 14th century, the Lords of Oefte used the estate as a base for robber baron activities, despite it being an open house of the Archbishop of Cologne since 1377. From 1424 to 1938, the castle ruin Luttelnau also belonged to the Oefte estate. The castle changed ownership multiple times, including the families von Eller, von Uhlenbrock, and von Erwitte. In the 17th century, it came into the possession of Dietrich Ottmar von Erwitte through marriage. Later, the families von Dornick, von Winter zu Bromskirchen, von Dalwigk zu Lichtenfels, and the Barons von Vinke followed. In 1818, the castle came into the possession of Imperial Count Werner von der Schulenburg-Wolfsburg through marriage, whose descendants had the complex redesigned in the Neo-Gothic style in the 19th century, specifically in 1842 and 1888. Since 1985, the entire castle complex, including its park, has been a protected monument.