Castle Map

Castle

Twickel Castle

Netherlands

Heritage status
Rijksmonument
Location
Hof van Twente
Coordinates
52.26639°, 6.715°
Links
Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Twickel Castle in the Netherlands
Photo: Onderwijsgek · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Twickel is a protected historic country estate with 81 complex parts near Delden in the hamlet of Deldeneresch, in the municipality of Hof van Twente in the province of Overijssel in The Netherlands. The moated castle forms the center.

The oldest mention of Twickel is in 1347, when Herman van Twickelo buys the Eysinck house near Delden. This house will later become Twickel Castle. Twickel is successively inhabited by members of the Van Twickelo family (fourteenth to sixteenth century), Van Raesfelt (sixteenth and seventeenth century), Van Wassenaer Obdam (seventeenth to eighteenth century) and Van Heeckeren van Wassenaer (nineteenth and twentieth century). The last owner has transferred Twickel to a foundation, which now still manages the assets. Until her death, the Baroness herself was chairman of the board.

The last baroness determined that after her death the castle should remain inhabited. The right of residence came to her great-nephew Christian Graf zu Castell-Rüdenhausen, who lived in the castle from 1982 until his death on January 21, 2010. Then the right of residence passed to his son Roderik Graf zu Castell-Rüdenhausen, who has lived in it from that time on.

The owners of Twickel have held various public positions, such as the position of drost of Twente. The preserved archive of Twickel therefore not only contains documents related to the castle and the residents, but also documents related to Twente's history. Because of those functions, Twickel was also regularly the stage for political negotiations and official receptions.

A fifteenth-century predecessor of the current castle was located in the backyard, behind the castle. Excavations of the foundations of this predecessor took place in the late 1970s. The oldest parts of the current castle date from the mid- 16th century. The entrance has a facing brick dated 1551 and is built in the early Renaissance style. Above the entrance is a large coat of arms with the coats of arms of Goossen van Raesfelt and Agnes van Twickelo, the client and wife. The stone is flanked by statues of Adam and Eve. Above the stone is the Tree of Knowledgewith the hose. The entrance is crowned by a steep gable. On either side are sandstone bay windows with coats of arms. The south tower and the part between the entrance and south tower also date from the sixteenth century.

Text adapted from “Twickel” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Twickel Castle ranks #3,470 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #31 of the 213 mapped in Netherlands. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,483 times in the last 60 days, more than 78% of the atlas. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Enschede, 13 km away. See how Netherlands compares in the castle statistics.

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