The area now known as Eringerfeld was settled as early as prehistoric times. Several Bronze Age burial mounds have been discovered there. Much later, historical records provide evidence of settlement. There was an older settlement called “Erkerinkhusen,” after which a noble family took its name.
In 1300, Friedrich von Hörde acquired land in Erkerinchusen (Eringerfeld), and as early as 1367, the lords of Hörde expanded their holdings in the Eringerfeld district. In 1395, the Eringerfeld estate was sold, with half going to the Convent of the Virgin Mary in Lippstadt and the other half to the von der Borch family. In 1463, Temmo von Hörde and his wife Fry purchased half of the estate in Eringerfeld from Ludof von der Borch. Following the division of the estate among the four brothers—Temmen, Jorgen, Christoffer, and Allhard von Hörde—in 1529, Christoffer von Hörde received Eringerfeld along with the sheep farm; it is likely that Eringerfeld became an independent knight’s estate at this time.
In 1615, Christoph von Hörde purchased the second half of the estate, which still belonged to the abbey in Lippstadt. The Baroque castle chapel, whose predecessor had been destroyed by fire, was consecrated in 1661; remnants of the magnificent altar can be found today in the Landesmuseum Münster.
From 1676 to 1699, Schloss Eringerfeld (a moated castle) was rebuilt by the canons Johann Gottfried and Rhabanus Christoph von Hörde as a family foundation.
In 1690, the new farm complex was built on the foundation ruins of the manor, which had been destroyed by fire.
Baron Ludolph von Hörde of Eringerfeld died without issue. Following the death of his wife in 1792, Schloss Eringerfeld passed to the von Hörde family of Schwarzenraben in accordance with the inheritance agreement; they initially left the castle vacant. Later, it was inhabited intermittently and used as a hunting lodge or for agricultural purposes.
In 1846, Engelbert Mathias von Hörde of Schwarzenraben died childless. His wife, Kunigunde von Asbeck, who inherited the entire estate, married Colonel Otto von der Decken of Oldenburg. This marriage also remained childless, and so Colonel von der Decken’s daughter from his first marriage, Maria Kunigunde, inherited the estate. In 1863, she married Baron Friedrich Klemens von Ketteler-Harkotten, thereby transferring ownership of the von Hörde estate to the Barons von Ketteler. Six years later, Kunigunde von Asbeck’s mother-in-law gifted the young couple the Schloss Eringerfeld estate.
In 1873, the entire former von Hörde estate—with the exception of the manor house in Erwitte—was finally transferred to the Barons von Ketteler by way of a gift.
In 1875, renovation work began on the castle, and in 1878, Baron von Ketteler and his wife moved from the Mittelhausen estate to Schloss Eringerfeld.
During World War II, the castle was made available free of charge to the Steyler Missionaries and, from 1946 to 1960, to the Jesuits.
Subsequently, Dr. Berna and Wilfried Kirchner acquired the castle and operated a boarding school there from 1961 to 1987. New school buildings and expansions were constructed around the castle. At its peak, up to 1,200 students from various school types were enrolled. In 2013, there was another change in ownership.
As early as 1985, the interior of the castle and the outbuildings were converted into a conference and training center with a hotel. The castle grounds were also restored according to old plans. The entire complex is a designated historic landmark.
The castle grounds are surrounded on the south, west, and north sides by a dry moat carved deep into the rock. To ensure protection against attackers from the east as well, the front building was constructed with virtually no windows facing outward, only a few embrasures. The windows seen today were not cut into the outer walls until the 19th and 20th centuries.
The castle’s rectangular layout runs north-south and is surrounded by buildings on three sides. To the south, it is bounded by a gatehouse on the central axis and two shield walls.
A hand pump dating from 1874 still stands in the castle’s inner courtyard today. It was used to draw rainwater from the 27-meter-deep cistern to the surface, thereby supplying the castle with drinking water.
The best-preserved part of the castle is the entrance hall, with its two-tone stone floor, dark oak door frames, and the magnificent stone fireplace surround featuring supporting herms, ornamented corbels, and the Hörde coat of arms on the lintel. To the east of the hall lies the main staircase. Made of oak, it ascends on four sides with intermediate landings from the upper floor to the attic.
Also noteworthy is the Ancestral Hall, which was fitted with a wooden coffered ceiling and wall paneling in 1873. In the dining room on the ground floor, tapestries (woven pictures) from Schwarzenraben were also installed around 1873.
The former boarding school buildings were put to various uses after the boarding school closed in 1987. The Unna-Massen Main Reception Center maintained a branch office there from September 1989 through the end of July 1990. At times, more than 1,400 people—immigrants from the GDR, ethnic German repatriates, and foreign refugees—were housed there. The “Talenta”—a school for gifted students—used the premises from 2000 to 2005. Since August 2006, the private high school and the private middle school with a boarding facility have been located here under the administration of the “Regenbogen Bildungswerkstatt e.V.” from Paderborn.
Excerpted from J. Tommke.
