Hackfort Castle

Hackfort Castle is a castle in Vorden, in the Dutch province of Gelderland. The castle is owned by the Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, the Society for Preservation of Nature Monuments.

Hackfort Castle

Architectural history

In 1392, the lending register of the lords of Bronckhorst mentions "Hacforden", a house with an outer castle and canals. Hackfort Castle's earliest known history can be traced back to 1324, when the Lord of Bronckhorst commissioned the building of a castle. It was largely destroyed by Spanish troops in 1586 during the Eighty Years' War. It was rebuilt in 1598 by Borchard van Westerholt. The castle was considerably rebuilt in 1788 by Borchard Frederic Willem van Westerholt. The new structure had a tighter façade with large windows and cross windows with window shutters at the bottom. The gatehouse was demolished, so that the view of the now symmetrical facade and the landing became unobstructed. The canals were also filled in. The castle is surrounded by forests and meadows and includes the watermill of Hackfort.

Owners

In 1324, a Willem van Bronckhorst sells a good in "Hacvorde" to Jacob van der Welle, who then went on to call himself Van Hackfort. Leenheer remained the Van Bronckhorsten until 1702. In 1581, it came to the Van Raesfelt family via the heiress daughter Jacoba van Hackfort. In 1602, through their daughter Margarethe, the succession to her cousin Borchard van Westerholt, who had rebuilt the castle before her death. It remained in the possession of the barons Van Westerholt for centuries.

When Borchard Frederik Willem, the second-generation from the Westerholt family, died in 1934, he left his five children as heirs. They were all unmarried except for Clara. Clara was huddled in 1935. Her brother and three sisters remained owners for a quarter each. In 1964 'freule sister' died from The Hague. She gave her quarter to Natuurmonumenten. In the same year her brother Arend made a will in which he also left his quarter to Natuurmonumenten. Arend and his sisters continued to manage until the last heir died. Arend died on October 8, 1970, his sister freule Emma on November 28, 1971. Sister Sannie was then the only person in charge of Hackfort. Freule Sannie was the last Westerholt to die on April 14, 1981, with which Hackfort became wholly owned by Natuurmonumenten.[1][2]

References
  1. Bors, Geert Hackfort, monument van Cultuur en Natuur (Natuurmonumenten, Diepenmaat)
  2. Keverling Buisman, F.(red.) (1998) Hackfort, Huis en Landgoed (Matrijs Utrecht)

Sources

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