Harkotten Manor
The classical Harkotten manor house in Sassenberg is part of a very impressive and extremely rare type of double castle complex in Germany: together with the Harkotten Castle of the von Ketteler family, which rises as if from nowhere behind the manor house, the complex is one of the most beautiful excursion destinations in Münsterland. The origin of the entire complex can be traced back to the 13th century.
Former moated castle
In 1308, the knight Heinrich II von Korff built a strategically important moated castle, the "Horekotten", on the present-day site of the double castle complex - precisely on the border of the Münsterland region with Lower Saxony and the Münster diocese with the Osnabrück diocese. After the death of Heinrich II, the property was divided among his sons and two branches of the von Korff family began building their own family residences on the property. When the male line of inheritance of the Korff-Schmiesing became extinct in 1615, the von Ketteler family came to the castle by marriage, who had their part of the castle demolished from 1755 and began building a representative Baroque castle.
A good 50 years later, the western wing of the original complex was demolished. Here, Anton Friedrich and Rosine von Korff commissioned a "young savage" who finally made a name for himself with the construction: Adolph von Vagedes began the construction of today's classicist manor house.
