Steinbreche Manor

Haus Steinbreche is a manor house built in 1712 in the Alt-Refrath district of Bergisch Gladbach.

The Quarries

Elector Johann Wilhelm, known as Jan Wellem, began construction of Bensberg Castle in 1706. Among the building materials used was the rough Lay (common limestone) from the ahl Brech (old quarry) east of today's Steinbreche for the normal ashlar. Today, this is where the so-called Zaubersee (Magic Lake) is located. From the neu Brech (new quarry) – where today the so-called Kahnweiher (Punt Pond) is located – Wirlsches Lay (Wirlschen = fossil, here: shell limestone) was extracted. This is the so-called Refrather Marble, which was used for decorative parts of the castle facade. Among the stonemasons from Wallonia who worked on the construction was Leonard Goudhaire. His initial task was to produce ashlar for doors and windows as well as the facade design of Bensberg Castle from the solid limestone found in Refrath.

Haus Steinbreche

Jan Wellem was so satisfied with Goudhaire's work that he gave him a plot of land near the quarries. He had been married to Katharina Beckers since 1703 and built the still-standing Haus Steinbreche in 1712. They had several children. Their daughter Anna Maria married Otto Siegen in 1728, who bought out his wife's siblings' inheritance share in the Steinbreche. The Siegen couple had four sons, all of whom remained unmarried and had no interest in the Steinbreche, and four daughters. Only their daughter Katharina Siegen married the gunpowder mill owner and landowner Franz Wilhelm Eyberg in Kesselsdhün near Wermelskirchen.

The Three Maidens

Only the three unmarried daughters ("Juffern" = maidens) remained living at Haus Steinbreche as joint heirs. They developed extensive entrepreneurial activities by purchasing several lime kilns and lands. The three sisters went to church daily. It is said of them that they had a shared bright red umbrella, which was so large that all three could fit under it. It was called the family umbrella. By resolution of the Bürger- und Heimatverein Refrath, the Refrath sculptor Helmut Moos created a sculpture in 1993, which was placed in front of Haus Steinbreche.

Expansion into an Excursion Restaurant

By 1902, restaurant rooms, a wine bar, a large dance hall, and a covered terrace were built. A bowling alley and a shooting range followed. Other offerings for guests included a maze, a hall with the largest orchestrion in the Rhineland, and 200 bicycles for rent. In the stables were 60 horses and donkeys that could be rented for riding. Guests were accompanied to their tables by a herald in a magnificent costume. Punts could be rented for a ride on the Kahnweiher. Today, the restaurant houses a Chinese restaurant. The hall is managed by the Bürgerzentrum Steinbreche. The old manor house is inhabited.