Brüggen Castle

Brüggen Castle (German: Burg Brüggen) is a water castle in the southeastern part of the Lower Rhine municipality of Brüggen in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was the most important castle in the north of the Duchy of Jülich.

Brüggen Castle from the east

The castle was built by the Count of Kessel in the 13th century to guard a ford over the River Schwalm. In the early 14th century it went into the possession of the dukes of Jülich, who had the existing building replaced by a quadrangular castle made from brick. After the occupation of Brüggen in 1794 by Napoleonic troops it was confiscated and resold by the French government to a private individual at the beginning of the 19th century. Today part of the castle houses a hunting and natural history museum.

Literature

• Paul Clemen (ed.): Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Kempen. L. Schwann, Düsseldorf, 1891 (Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz. Vol.1, Part 1), pp. 23–27 (online)
• Bernhard Gondorf, Werner Otto: Burgen und Schlösser. Höhepunkte niederrheinischer Baukunst. Mercator, Duisburg, 1991, ISBN 3-87463-172-9, p. 53.
• Manfred A. Jülicher: Burg Brüggen im Wechsel der Geschichte. Eigenverlag, Niederkrüchten 1979.
• Gregor Spohr: Wie schön hier, zu verträumen. Schlösser am Niederrhein. Pomp, Bottrop/Essen, 2001, ISBN 3-89355-228-6, pp. 14–17.
• Jens Wroblewski; André Wemmers (2001). Theiss-Burgenführer Niederrhein [Theiss Castle Guide Lower Rhine] (in German). Stuttgart: Konrad Theiss. pp. 40–41. ISBN 3-8062-1612-6.

External links

• 360° panorama of castle and mill (flash or Quicktime plugin needed)