Germany · 14th century
Schloss Wocklum ranks #7,718 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #684 of the 714 mapped in Germany. Founded c. 1325, it is older than 58% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 758 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Wuppertal, 50 km away. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.
Schloss Wocklum, Wocklum for short, is a moated castle in Balve, in the Sauerland. The site in the valley of the Orlebach goes back to a Saxon ringfort and to a fief of one Bernd von Düngelen. The Düngelen are a Westphalian noble family.
In the first half of the 14th century the noble family of Wockelheim (Wocklum) still had its seat there. Among others, the castle also belonged to the former Droste Hermann von Hatzfeld, who made his name in the Cologne War as an opponent of the Reformation.
Since its purchase in 1656 by the Landdrost Daniel Dietrich von Landsberg zu Erwitte († 1684), the castle has been owned by the counts of Landsberg-Velen. To protect the castle and its estates he founded a family entail in 1681.
Another famous son of the family was Ignaz von Landsberg-Velen und Gemen (1788–1863), who had the Luisenhütte (Wocklumer Hammer) ironworks expanded. Dieter von Landsberg-Velen (1925–2012), born in the castle, was a German sports official and president of the Malteser Hilfsdienst in Germany (1982–1990). He was a co-founder of the German Equestrian Federation and its president from 1968 to 2001, and later its honorary president. Landsberg-Velen was also for many years vice-president of the international equestrian federation (FEI).
Since 1948 the castle has regularly hosted the Balve Optimum show jumping tournament, which goes back to Dieter Graf von Landsberg-Velen und Gemen. Another major event there is the Landpartie.
Machine-translated from “Schloss Wocklum” on the German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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