Landsberg Castle

Landsberg Castle was founded in the 13th century by Count Adolph V von Berg , but Philip von Verdun (1259– † 1297) became the first owner of the castle. Since 1291, the owners of the castle take the name Landsberg . The Landsberg family is becoming one of the richest and most influential genera in the region.
On November 4, 1548, the castle was assigned to Bertram von Landsberg as a flax possession by the Duke of Julich Kleve Berg Wilhelm .
In 1589, the castle was captured by Spanish troops under the command of Francisco de Mendoza . This was the first case of the capture of the castle, which until then was considered impregnable. The next time the castle was captured by the troops of the Cologne Archbishop Ernst of Bavaria in 1597 . During the Thirty Years War in 1633, the castle was captured and devastated.
In 1705, with the death of Vitus Arnold von Landsberg, the male line of the Landsberg house was interrupted, and in 1713 the castle, as a dowry for Anna von Landsberg, passed into the possession of Baron Sigismund von Bevern. In 1825, the widow of his descendant Gottfried von Bevern sold the castle to the Prussian chamberlain, Baron Gerard von Carnap. In 1837, Gerhard von Karnap sold Landsberg Castle for 50,000 talers to Baron Alexander von Landsberg-Felen, who began using the castle as a summer residence.
In 1903, the castle and its adjoining estates were sold by Ignaz von Landsberg-Felen to the German industrialist August Thyssen . After his death, which followed on April 4, 1926 , the castle was transferred to the specially organized company August Thyssen-Stiftung Schloß Landsberg, which it still owns.
During World War II , Landsberg Castle, as well as the neighboring Huguenpot Castle, was home to a military planning committee. In 1945, the castle was occupied by British troops and placed inside a warehouse of engineering equipment. From June 1947 to February 1952, a children's sanatorium was located in the castle, and then until March 1966, an orphanage intended for children whose relatives worked for Thyssen AG . From 1967 to 1984, the castle was used for meetings by the Essen evangelical community. Since 1989, Thyssen AG has been using the castle for seminars and conferences.

Donjon

Donjon is located in the southwestern corner of the castle complex. It is a square in terms of a four-story tower 33 meters high.

Gate

The gate erected in the 17th century is located on the south side of the complex, decorated on top with the combined arms of the Landsberg and Meschede clans on the outside and Landsberg and Hatzfelds on the inside.

Lord's house

The manor house that exists today was built in the 17th century on the foundation of a medieval building. The building was built in the Baroque style, and during the reconstruction of the building in the XX century, it received individual elements in the Art Nouveau style. From the north-east side, the stable house adjoins the manor house, in which the conference room is now located.

Round Tower

On the north side of the castle complex is a three-story round tower. In the XIX century, the tower was called "archival", which makes it possible to make an assumption about its then use.

• Carl-Friedrich Baumann: Schloss Landsberg und Thyssen. 3. Auflage. ThyssenKrupp AG und August Thyssen-Stiftung Schloß Landsberg, Duisburg, Mülheim an der Ruhr 2003.
• Alexander Duncker Die ländlichen Wohnsitze, Schlösser und Residenzen der ritterschaftlichen Grundbesitzer in der preußischen Monarchie nebst den königlichen Familien-, Haus-, Fideicommiss- und Schattull-Gütern. Berlin 1860/1861. ( online , PDF; 244 kB).
• Claudia Euskirchen, Jörg Lesczenski, Stephan Strauß, Birgit Wörner: Hausforschung bei August Thyssen. Schloss Landsberg wird untersucht. In: Denkmalpflege im Rheinland. Jg. 18, Nr. 4, 2001, S. 184−186. ( online ).
• Gisbert Knopp: Schloß Landsberg. 3. Auflage. Thyssen AG und August Thyssen-Stiftung Schloß Landsberg, Duisburg, Mülheim an der Ruhr 1995.
• Gisbert Knopp: Schloß Landsberg in Ratingen. 2. Auflage. Neusser Druckerei und Verlag, Neuss 1986, ISBN 3-88094-524-1 .
• Otto Lüer: Schloß Landsberg an der Ruhr . In: Deutsche Bauzeitung . Jg. 40, 1906, Nr. 28, S. 191-192 (sieben Abbildungen).
• Oskar Stavenhagen: Landsberg. In: Genealogisches Handbuch der kurländischen Ritterschaft, Teil 3, 2: Kurland, Lfg. 9-12, Bd. 2, Görlitz 1937, S. 648-666.

• Landsberg castle page on the site of the regional project "The path of industrial culture" of the Ruhr region (German)
• August Thyssen and Landsberg Castle (German)