Wendlinghausen Castle

Wendlinghausen Castle, with its associated estate, is a Weser Renaissance style property located in the eponymous district of the municipality of Dörentrup, Lippe district in North Rhine-Westphalia.

In 1566, the wealthy mercenary leader Hilmar von Münchhausen, scion of the black line of the Lower Saxon noble family Münchhausen, acquired the Wendlinghausen estate, having already acquired numerous other estates. Foresightedly, he had previously secured the feudal expectancy for this property, including valuable income in Lemgo and Hovedissen, as the previously resident noble family of the Lords Rebock was down to only two members.

A son from his marriage to Lucia von Reden, Hilmar the Younger von Münchhausen (1558-1617), Lord of Schwöbber and Rinteln, had the building that still stands today rebuilt as a moated castle from 1613 to 1616. The manor house rests on a foundation of oak piles in a moat.

Hilmar the Younger's great-grandson, the ducal Saxon-Weimar chief court master Ernst Friedemann von Münchhausen (1686-1772), sold the property in 1730 to the related family von Reden and acquired the Herrengosserstedt estate in the Duchy of Weimar in return. His cousin, the famous "Lying Baron" Hieronymus von Münchhausen (1720-1797), was later a frequent guest at Wendlinghausen - he was the son of Sybille Wilhelmine von Reden, daughter of Jobst Johann von Reden from Hastenbeck and Marie Dorothea von Münchhausen from the house of Voldagsen, Bolzum and Middoge.

Wendlinghausen Castle thus remains to this day in the possession of descendants of the builder, now the von Reden family. Following extensive restoration work in 2001 and 2003, the castle is now privately used for cultural events and weddings.