Hüsten Manor

Haus Hüsten (also documented as Hof beim Kirchhof or Hövels Hof) is a former noble seat in Hüsten (City of Arnsberg). Its history as a manor house dates back to the 13th century. Parts of the current building date from the first half of the 16th century. After numerous changes of ownership over the centuries, it is now owned by the Hüsten "Unter dem Schutze des heiligen Geistes von 1435" shooting fraternity.

The building is located in the immediate vicinity of St. Petri Church and the market of Freiheit Hüsten. However, like the church, it lay outside the boundaries of Freiheit Hüsten, founded in 1360. Haus Hüsten formed the core of extensive property. This comprised about 64 hectares. In addition, there were several leased properties (farms and cottages) and various rights.

Thanks to the historian Johann von der Berswordt, himself lord of Haus Hüsten in the 17th century, extensive information about the house's past exists. The Lords of Ardey appear as the first owners. Ludwig Graf von Arnsberg acquired the property from them before 1289. The owners then granted the property as a fief.

One of the most important feudal tenants was Coert von Ketteler – he is named Conradus de Hustene castellanus in a document from 1233. In 1377, a Berthold Schade was a sub-official of the von Hüsten/Ketteler family, who themselves resided in Hachen. During this time, Haus Hüsten became a knight's seat. Through marriage, Haus Hüsten fell entirely into the possession of the Schade family in the second half of the 14th century. It remained in their possession for the following 150 years. Between 1521 and 1577/79, the Hüsten manor was owned by the von Plettenberg family. This was followed by the von Holdinghausen and von Orsbeck (or Orsbach) families. In 1585, the property fell to the Dortmund patrician family von der Berswordt through purchase.

After a period of unclear and changing ownership in the first half of the 17th century, Haus Hüsten was owned by the Dortmund family von Hövel from the second half of the century, who leased it out. In 1685, the Barons von Fürstenberg acquired a part and in 1712 the rest of the partly indebted property. For a time, it was used by the Hüsten parish as a vicarage.

The Hüsten shooting fraternity acquired the house in 1979 from Engelbert Eberhard Freiherr von Fürstenberg. Subsequently, the building was renovated. For many years it was used as a museum of the fraternity. After further extensive renovations and alterations, a wedding room was set up on the ground floor, where couples in the city of Arnsberg can say their vows. The museum moved to the upper floor as part of this process.