Ruïne Toutenburg

Ruïne Toutenburg, or the castle of Toutenburg, is a medieval castle in the small Dutch town of Vollenhove. It was built around 1500.

The castle was built for Georg Schenck van Toutenburg, a nobleman from Tautenburg in Thuringia, who was appointed schout of Vollenhove. He was married to Lady Anna de Vos van Steenwijck, who died in 1526, which allowed him to become owner of the place. From his second marriage, to Joanna van Egmond, his son Charles (in Dutch, Carel) was born there.

Georg Schenck van Toutenburg died in 1540, after which the castle became the property of Carel, and after his death it became the property of Georg's elder brother, Frederik. After Frederik's death in 1580, the estate passed into the hands of the Van Haersolte and Van Boetselaer families.

In the 18th century the building fell into decay and today only a ruin remains. A model representing the original castle can be seen in the Cultuur Historisch Centrum (or Cultural History Centre) of Vollenhove. It also preserves various remains, including construction elements, pottery and the weather vane from the tower.

Machine-translated from “Château de Toutenburg” on the French Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ruïne Toutenburg ranks #6,181 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #89 of the 201 mapped in Netherlands. Founded c. 1500, it is older than 45% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 454 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Zwolle, 21 km away. See how Netherlands compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia (in French) ↗