Willingshausen Castle

Schwertzell Castle Willingshausen is today a Baroque castle complex with an estate and an English landscape garden in Willingshausen in the Schwalm-Eder district in Hesse.

The von Schwertzell family was first mentioned in a document in the 13th century in Willingshausen. The Lords of Schwertzell, who settled early in Willingshausen, acquired jurisdiction in 1489 from Domian von Weitershausen from Merzhausen. The manor of Willingshausen, which originated from a castle, was later an independent estate district of the von Schwertzell zu Willingshausen and comprised 775 hectares in 1885, with 94 hectares of arable land, 38 hectares of meadows, and 641 hectares of forest.

The ancestral seat of the Hessian noble family von Schwertzell was built in Willingshausen in the mid-16th century. On the manor house, a representative Renaissance building, there is a coat of arms tablet from 1496. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was partially destroyed and plundered. In 1697, the half-timbered castle with two stone floors was renovated and extended to provide more living space.

During the Seven Years' War, the castle's inventory was plundered again.

In 1814, Gerhardt Wilhelm von Reutern, who was a guest in Willingshausen for convalescence after the Battle of Leipzig, and the painter Ludwig Emil Grimm met for the first time at Schwertzell Castle. Willingshausen Castle became the first meeting place and founding location of the Willingshausen Artists' Colony. In 1820, Gerhardt Wilhelm von Reutern married Charlotte von Schwertzell at Schwertzell Castle.

The ancestors of the von Schwertzell family were buried in a mausoleum in the English Garden.

Today, Willingshausen Castle is the estate management for the agricultural properties of the von Schwertzell family.