Altena Castle (Almkerk)

Altena Castle is a former castle in Almkerk. It was home to the lords of Altena, and often of the lords of Horne and Altena.

All that remains of Altena Castle is its clearly visible motte. Therefore, there can be little doubt that Altena Castle started out as a motte-and-bailey castle. During excavations a large amount of tuff stone was found. This indicates that Altena Castle was built before the procedure to produce brick was reinvented in the Netherlands. This reinvention took place in about 1200. The foundation date is estimated to be around 1150.

In time, motte-and-bailey castles were modernized. In 17th century pictures, the remains of the castle are depicted as a polygonal tower on a motte (see Schijnvoet's engraving). This is a somewhat unusual configuration for the Netherlands, where many motte-and-bailey castles were levelled to become circular water castles. Others became shell keeps by building a circular wall on top of the motte e.g. the Burcht van Leiden. Altena Castle was referred to as 'Tower and Castle', which can have different meanings, but implies that it consisted of two separate buildings.

The nearby Heusden castle might give inspiration about Altena's characteristics. Heusden Castle had its first octagonal tower founded on ground level, with the motte constructed around it. This tower was also made of stone, instead of brick.

The first known Lord of Altena was Dirk I, who appeared in writing in 1143. A Boudewijn van Altena was mentioned in 1200. He added the Lordship of Kortessem to Altena.

Altena Castle was mentioned by Melis Stoke (c. 1235 - 1305). He mentioned that in 1203, Louis II, Count of Loon visited Altena Castle, where he waited for the death of Dirk VII, Count of Holland, before continuing to Dordrecht to marry his daughter Ada, Countess of Holland. Altena Castle was first mentioned in a charter in 1230, when its lord Dirk of Altena paid homage to Floris IV, Count of Holland for his 'castrum' in Altena. Archaeological evidence (the presence of much tuff) proves that Dirk's forefathers already owned a motte castle at the current location.

Dirk III of Altena had no legal offspring, his sister Sophia was his heir. Dirk succeeded in making his nephew Willem of Horne his heir and successor in the Lordship of Altena, which was a fief of Kleve.

Text adapted from “Altena Castle (Almkerk)” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Altena Castle (Almkerk) ranks #6,631 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #140 of the 200 mapped in Netherlands. 13 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Breda, 25 km away. See how Netherlands compares in the castle statistics.

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