Gansbroich Manor (Baal)

Gut Gansbroich is a closed four-wing complex with a rectangular floor plan. The former moats, fed by the Rur, are now filled in, but some parts were still present at the beginning of the 20th century.

The core of the complex is the residential building, built in 1661, at the northeast corner. Its ground floor with brick masonry is painted white. Its first floor and attic are timber-framed and are topped by a gable roof. A modern, single-story extension has been added to the residential building on the courtyard side, so that the former main entrance is now located inside the house. Its massive, wooden lintel bears the carved inscription

“THIS HOUSE STANDS IN GOD'S HAND, ALMIGHTY GOD PROTECT IT FROM STORMS, FIRE AND ENEMY HANDS. BUILT BY UDO OIDTMANN AND JOHANN CHRISTUPHELL OIDTMANN AND MARIA CATHARINA PACKEN, SPOUSES; DONE ON THE 23RD OF MAY ANNO 1661”.

The residential building was formerly adjoined by farm buildings, which formed the other wings of the complex. About half of the west wing was occupied by a barn, which after conversion work is now used as a two-family house. To the south, a new building adjoins it, erected there in place of a dilapidated and demolished stable building.

The east wing, with its white-painted brick outer wall, now houses – like the south wing – office spaces. Iron wall anchors in the form of numbers indicate the year of construction of the building: 1775; although the wall anchor with the number 5 is now difficult to spot as it is covered by a downpipe. Its round-arched portal is framed by brick pilasters and crowned with a flat gable bearing a coat of arms plate with the year 1749.

Owners of the estate have been attested by name since the Middle Ages. In 1350, a Godtfried von Nyvenheim zu Nierhoven near Lövenich is mentioned as the owner.

Later, the estate – a fief of the Mannkammer Heinsberg – was in the possession of the Udman/Oidtman alderman family for several centuries. Paul Clemen (see Lit.) refers to it as their ancestral seat. Heinrich Udman from Erkelenz acquired the estate in 1443 from a Wilhelm von Vrankenhoven, called "van Korentzich", knight in Körrenzig.

In 1661, Johann Christoph Oidtman, together with his uncle Udo, rebuilt the residential house and was enfeoffed with the estate on December 28 of the same year. The well-known genealogist Ernst von Oidtman comes from a collateral line of the family.

In 1775, the current farm buildings were erected. Through marriage, Gut Gansbroich passed in the 19th century first to the Byll family and finally to the Aretz family.

After extensive renovation and restoration work under the direction of architect Franz Peter Greven from Hückelhoven, the manor farm now houses office spaces for companies in the service sector, while the former barn has been converted into a two-family house.