Laar Manor

Laar Estate or Laarwald is a former manorial seat, eligible for the regional assembly, in the eponymous village of Laar (County of Bentheim). As early as around 1227, this castle and its lordship were in the possession of the Counts of Bentheim. This castle is not to be confused with the castle of the same name near Ommen.

In 1227, the estate was mentioned for the first time after it was conquered by Burgrave Rudolf van Coevorden from Count Boldewin of Bentheim, who, as Burgrave of Utrecht, was allied with the Bishop of Utrecht. Rudolf further expanded Laar Castle until it was completely destroyed by the Bishop of Utrecht in the same year. After its destruction, the Count of Bentheim enfeoffed the Laar Estate to Eilhard von Bentheim, whose descendants called themselves van den Lare. Until 1380, the Bentheim fief remained in the possession of the Bentheim castellan family. The heir to the Laar Estate was Engelbert von Salne, who was married to the heiress Jutta von Laar. He had the estate refortified and levied tolls on the Vechte, to the detriment of all who used this trade route.

After the castle was again razed, Engelbert had to promise the cities of Kampen, Zwolle, and Deventer, as well as the Bishop of Utrecht, that neither he nor his family would build a fortress along the Vechte without the permission of the aforementioned parties. Furthermore, no tolls were ever to be levied arbitrarily in Laar again. Thereafter, Laar House was merely rebuilt again and again as a stately stone house. In 1685, a new manor house was built by the von Laar family. However, the one-story building shown in the photo dates from the mid-18th century.