Castle Genhoes

Castle Genhoes (Dutch Kasteel Genhoes, Limburgish Kesjtièl Genhoes) in the Oud-Valkenburg district of the Limburg municipality of Valkenburg aan de Geul is a moated castle which took its present form in the 15th to 18th centuries. It stands in the valley of the Geul only about 390 metres from Schaloen Castle.

Initially the complex was known as Huis Oud-Valkenburg (Dutch: Huis Oud-Valkenburg). The present name arose only later from the Limburgish G'n Hoes (German: the house). For centuries the complex was the seat of the lords of Valkenburg and its fate was therefore closely bound up in the Middle Ages with the Land of Valkenburg. From when a fortified house or a castle stood on the present site is unclear, but by the 12th/13th century at the latest a residential tower stood there, remains of which survive in the present cellar storey.

Through the von Ghoor family the complex passed in the 16th century to Johann von Strijthagen, who had the castle extended and rebuilt into a stately residence. After the Latvian-born Georg von Tunderfelt acquired it in 1701, he had the buildings altered and modernised. His son sold the estate in the middle of the 18th century to Leonard Thimus of Aachen, who had it extended by the present north wing and had a baroque garden laid out. From him it passed to his son-in-law of the von Pelser-Berensberg family, who inhabited the castle until 1929. Sold in 1955 by the descendants of the Pelser-Berensbergs to the Vereniging tot Behoud van Natuurmonumenten (German: association for the preservation of natural monuments), the castle and its outer bailey have since been used as flats for several tenants. The estate cannot be visited, but is clearly visible from the road.

Machine-translated from “Schloss Genhoes” on the German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Castle Genhoes ranks #6,641 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #112 of the 201 mapped in Netherlands. 44 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Aachen, 18 km away. See how Netherlands compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia (in German) ↗