Reuschenberg Castle (Selikum)

The name of the castle refers to the noble family of Reuschenberg. This also gave rise to the name of the nearby village of Reuschenberg.

In addition to well-known noble families such as von Braumann and von Boeselager, the castle has had many owners over the past centuries. Among other names, the castle was also known as: Feldhoff, Rittergut Seligem, Merhof, Hof zu Seligheim, and most recently as Haus Selikum.

The court of the Knights of Selinchein is mentioned in documents as early as 1284 and 1288. Later documents from 1405 report on the Hoyve zu Selickhem. Lease documents show the property as Hof zu Seligheim in the parish of Nuysse. Raids, burnings, and destructions in the years 1582–1587, which were no less terrifying than the Thirty Years' War, also laid Wilhelm II von Reuschenberg's property in ruins. The Lords of Reuschenberg zu Selikum never recovered from this misfortune. Due to their heavy indebtedness, the family had to vacate Haus Selikum in 1699. After the forced auction, the last of the Reuschenbergs at Selikum disappeared without a trace. There are no documents regarding the reconstruction.

Writings from 1615 state that the house and farm were surrounded by a pond. Haus Selikum and the associated properties were then owned by qualified legal administrative and cameral officials with the family names Salm, Lambertz, Zehman, and for 99 years by the Brauman family.

State rent master and court chamber councilor Arnold von Braumann drowned in the Erft in 1814, leaving no descendants. In 1837, his sisters sold Haus und Gut Selikum to the Westphalian Baron Carl von Boeselager. As a reminder of the former manor house, only the stone with the coat of arms of the Reuschenberg family (including Heinrich von Reuschenberg) with the year 1634 remains, which was walled into the rear side of the current building and is currently located on the right side in the entrance hall of the castle.

Baron Carl von Boeselager began major renovations to Haus Selikum in 1847. The old farmyard within the moats was completely demolished. Instead, a new estate was built in front of the outer moat. Above the front door of his residence, a stone with the Boeselager coat of arms, the two crossed shovels, is still embedded today. The manor house has also been completely changed externally.

In 1912, Baron Dietrich von Boeselager sold Haus und Gut zu Selikum, including the Chapel of St. Cornelius, to the city of Neuss for 1,100,000 Marks. Baron von Boeselager (born 1867) died in Locarno in 1942. His wife, Countess von Bocholtz-Asseburg, died in 1920. The marriage was childless. In 1917, the Society for Agricultural Women's Education founded the "Wirtschaftliche Frauenschule Selikum" there to train agricultural home economics teachers. The school was initially transformed into a "Bäuerliche Frauenschule" (Rural Women's School) in 1935 and then into a "Landfrauenschule" (Countrywomen's School), whose patron from 1942 to 1945 was the Rhenish Provincial Association. In 1920, a school building with teaching and living rooms was erected beyond the pond, and in 1928, a student dormitory was built on the open space of the former farmyard.

In the summer of 1943, the property suffered severe damage from bomb hits, so the school had to be evacuated to Kreuznach. Reconstruction began in the autumn of 1945. School operations only resumed in mid-1947.

In October 1953, the Agricultural Association Rhineland took over the school from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, which had supported it since 1945, and remained its owner until the end of school operations in 1997. In 1999, an asset management company acquired Reuschenberg Castle along with its associated buildings. In the years between, several internet companies were located here. In 2000, the castle and outbuildings were extensively renovated and modernized. At the end of 2009, the castle was sold for the last time and passed into private ownership.