Frens Castle

Frens Castle (earlier spellings also Frenz or Frentz, not to be confused with Frenz Castle near Düren) is a Renaissance castle in the Quadrath district of the city of Bergheim in the North Rhine-Westphalian Rhein-Erft-Kreis.

As the ancestral seat of a noble family of Frens, the "Castrum Vrenze" was already mentioned in 1263. At the beginning of the 14th century, this family must have died out, as the castle came into the possession of the Counts of Virneburg. In 1347, Ruprecht von Virneburg sold the house to Rutger von Raitz, whose family, after acquiring the castle, henceforth called themselves Raitz von Frentz after their property. The castle remained in the possession of this family for almost 400 years.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the main castle was probably a two-winged corner complex, its courtyard enclosed by defensive walls. After the marriage of Henrica von Willich to Adolf Raitz von Frentz in 1560, he expanded the castle into a rectangular complex around an inner courtyard and completed the northern wing with a Renaissance gable at the entrance front. His heirs continued the reconstruction measures and successively added the western and central ornamental gables. The castle thus acquired an appearance in the style of the Dutch Renaissance, which still defines its overall impression today. To symmetrically structure the show facade, a wider facade, partly standing freely in the moat, was placed in front of the narrower south wing. After 1690, Franz Karl Reichsfreiherr Raitz von Frentz finally added the strong corner towers, thereby completing the architectural development of the castle into a closed, symmetrical complex.

Through the marriage of Maria Anna Ludowica Freiin Raitz von Frentz to Freiherr Dominicus Beissel von Gymnich in 1772, the castle passed to the husband's family. Under Count Franz Hugo Beissel von Gymnich, extensive structural changes were then made from 1838 to 1850. The interiors were newly furnished and the outer bailey was completely rebuilt. Frens Castle thus acquired its present appearance. As a result of the marriage of Olga Countess Beissel von Gymnich to Lupold Baron von Abercron, the castle came into the possession of the Lords of Abercron at the beginning of the 20th century. Frens Castle is still owned by this family today and is privately inhabited.