Vorst Castle

Haus Vorst is a well-preserved hilltop castle in the western Bergisches Land at the transition to the Rhine plain.

The castle is located in the south of the city of Leichlingen (Rhineland) on the border with the Leverkusen district of Bergisch Neukirchen. It rises on a wooded hill, the Vorster Busch, above a loop of the Wupper on the right side of the river. Haus Vorst can be reached from the center of Leichlingen via Haus-Vorster-Weg.

The history of Haus Vorst presumably begins in the 11th century. However, the later castle was first mentioned in a document in 1297 as the court of a Hermanus de Foresto. In the following centuries, it served as a knight's seat until it was burned down by French troops around 1795. After that, the complex was used as a hunting lodge.