Netherlands · 15th century
Ter Worm or Terworm Castle (Dutch: Kasteel Terworm) is a castle located in the municipality of Heerlen, Limburg Province, Netherlands. The castle is part of the Terworm estate.
The present building dates largely from the 17th century when the original 15th-century fortified building was converted into a house. It comprises two wings in a T-shaped floor plan surrounded by a moat. The main building is accessible at the front via a marl stone bridge dating from 1843 leading to the main entrance. Between the two wings is a corner tower, which is the oldest part of the castle dating back to the 15th century. Originally round, the tower was converted to an octagonal in the 17th century . The west wing can be dated to 1716, while the south wing has a keystone with the year 1718.
The castle garden is a reconstruction based on a French rococo garden laid out by Count Vincent van der Heyden-Belderbusch in 1787 with roses, lavender and boxwood. The garden is a favourite wedding location and admission is free.
The castle has existed since the 14th century and has been inhabited by several noble families. Originally it was a square building, fronted by a round tower and a rectangular tower and built around a walled courtyard. The first known owner was the Lord of Strijthagen in 1476, when the castle was a moated building fortified by external walls outside the moat. In 1498 the castle came into possession of the sheriff of Heerlen, Diederick van Pallandt. In 1542, the castle came into the possession of the Van Hallen family, and was destroyed by fire in 1550 but rebuilt in the same style. The rebuilding, completed by the Wijlre family, was done in brick and the building was painted white to disguise the difference in building materials.
The castle remained in this family's possession until 1738, when Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Wylre, canon of Aachen, died. His possessions passed to Phillip Anton van der Heyden zu Belderbusch.
In 1767 the castle was restored by Count Maximilian van der Heyden-Belderbusch and the gardens laid out in the French rococo style. In 1840 the castle was inherited by Antoinette von Böselager, who was married to Baron Otto Napoleon Loë-d'Imstenraedt. After her death, the castle came into possession of the baron. His family extended the estate by purchasing many neighbouring farms.
Text adapted from “Ter Worm Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ter Worm Castle ranks #4,809 of 9,035 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #50 of the 198 mapped in Netherlands. Founded c. 1450, it is older than 46% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 556 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. 44 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Aachen, 16 km away. See how Netherlands compares in the castle statistics.
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