Nordkirchen Palace

Prince-bishop Friedrich Christian von Plettenberg began Nordkirchen in 1703 on the site of a moated castle, and the result is a red brick and sandstone block on a rectangular island with subsidiary buildings on their own islands around it, all in still water, which earned it the name Westphalian Versailles. The formal gardens were laid out in the eighteenth century, dismantled in the nineteenth for an English park and recreated in the twentieth. Since 1950 the palace has housed a state finance academy, so most of it is in institutional use and only parts are shown, on guided tours at set times.

History

The palace and its outbuildings were designed by Gottfried Laurenz Pictorius, Peter Pictorius the Younger from 1706 and Johann Conrad Schlaun from 1724: a tall main block flanked by lower symmetrical wings, one holding the chapel, around a U-shaped court of honour, with echoes of Dutch palaces such as Het Loo but a sandstone facing that is purely Westphalian (Wikipedia, Nordkirchen Castle).

What's there

• The water setting - a palace and outbuildings on separate islands.
• The recreated gardens - formal parterres restored in the twentieth century.
• The brick and sandstone - a Westphalian baroque block of 1703 onward.
• The guided rooms - the state rooms shown on limited tours.

When to go

April to October; the park is freely open year-round while palace tours run on set days, usually weekends, and must be checked in advance.

Things to know

Most of the palace is a working academy and closed. Tours are limited and often weekends only. There is little else in the village.

Nearby

Burg Vischering lies west; Münster is north.

Key facts