Alara Benlier | Live the World
November 23, 2022
What about a visit to the most important and earliest examples of the Weser Renaissance in flesh and blood? It is time for a short trip to Paderborn! Schloss Neuhaus -aka the Neuhaus Castle- was built as a bishop's residence, in the Paderborn district in the 14th century. The status of this castle changed throughout history, but the only thing that didn't change is the fact that this gorgeous castle is one of the most important moated castles in Westphalia! So, do you wanna learn more? If yes, here we go!
Let's start with a little background story about the castle. What you see today consists of five buildings, which were built between 1370 and 1597 and trust me, they have a rather eventful history. Until 1803, the region was controlled by influential bishops, who shaped the fate of the city right from this castle. Soon the castle was made the cultural center of Westphalia. However, secularisation in 1803 marked the end of the heyday of Neuhausen Castle. It served as a Prussian garrison site and later, as the British military administration after WWII. Today, Schloss Neuhaus houses a secondary school. After the redesign of the historic baroque styled gardens for the State Garden Show in 1994, the castle nowadays represents the dominant historical center of Paderborn.
Today, the only impressive artifacts are located in the "Braunschweig" part of the castle. The so-called "Hall of Mirrors," which at the time was the dining hall of Prince-Bishop Clemens August, is very pleasing to look at. Sadly, the castle's interior is not open to the public -apart from special days. However, the exterior of the castle is more interesting than the interior!
So, what can you do here? First of all, you have to check out the castle guard! The castle guard was built in 1733 and is located on the right front of the castle. If you want to take some pictures, I'd say that this spot is very Instagram-worthy. The most famous garden, the Cabinet Garden, is located directly under the former prince-bishop's study room (Cabinet). Together with the baroque garden, it was reconstructed in its main features for the 1994's State Garden Show. Today, the center of the garden is decorated with a copy of a baroque sundial from 1736. With its wide lawn belt accompanied by linden avenues, it forms the frame for the former central palace garden. The lushly rose and flower garden, with simple square beets, presents charming flower pictures during summer. As mentioned before, this castle is one of the largest moated castles in Westphalia. With its old, magnificent stock of trees, the moat gives the castle a fairytale-like feeling.
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