Horst Castle

Haus Horst, also known as Burg Horst, is a former knight's seat on the northern bank of the Ruhr, high above the river in the Horst district of Essen. It is protected as a building and archaeological monument.

Unclear Beginnings

The exact time of origin of Haus Horst is unknown. It is possible that it was a successor to the immediately adjacent Vryburg, but this assumption has not yet been scientifically proven. Both complexes are located at an old ford across the Ruhr at a branch of the Hellweg, which was important in the Middle Ages. They may have been intended to control and protect it.

The lineage of the Lords of Horst has been documented since the 12th century. Their member Heinrich von Horst is mentioned in 1280 as Drost of the Counts of Berg. In 1282, his brother Hugo is documented as Marshal of the Essen Princess-Abbess Berta von Arnsberg. The family had thus risen to the status of ministerials, which corresponded to the rank of an unfree knight. This made them one of the most important families in the territory of the Imperial Abbey of Essen. However, the noble seat Haus Horst is only mentioned in 14th-century documents; previously, a rural estate stood on the site.

Changing Owners

After the Lords of Horst died out around 1400, the complex subsequently saw changing owners. In 1457, it came to Bernd von Voerst and was later owned by the von Schüren family. From 1644 to 1652, it belonged to Alexander II von Velen, who had gained much wealth during the Thirty Years' War. In 1663, it passed to Johann Heinrich von Ree(r)de, before Jobst Dietrich Freiherr zu Wendt became owner in 1674.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the complex belonged to a member of the "Wendt auf Hardenberg" family, who leased it to Friedrich Wilhelm Fürchtegott Niemann. His son Friedrich Ludwig had the current Villa Vogelsang built on the western grounds of the knight's seat in 1840. The property passed to the entrepreneur Wilhelm Vogelsang in 1910 through an auction and remained in his family's possession until the 1970s.

In 1934, under Ernst Kahrs, director of the Ruhrlandmuseum, additions and restorations were made to the southern part of the former outer bailey, before it was redesigned in 1945.

Haus Horst Today

The industrialist Hans-Dieter Abring acquired Haus Horst in 1980 and founded the "Foto-Museum Burg Horst", whose collection includes exhibits such as a camera obscura and laterna magica, as well as cameras from 1839 and pieces on three-dimensional photography. It can be visited by appointment.