Lissingen Castle

Lissingen and neighboring Sarresdorph most likely originated as a Roman settlement. Evidence of this is archeological finds from an excavation in one of the courtyards of the lower castle before World War I and also the proximity to the former Roman settlement of Ausava, a horse-changing station on the road between Treves and Cologne that today is the section of Gerolstein called Oos.[2]

After the Germanic influx of the 5th century, the former Roman settlements came under the control of the Frankish kings and later became demesne of the Merovingians and Carolingians. In the 8th and 9th centuries, during the Carolingian era, Lissingen and Sarresdorph were both possessions of Prüm Abbey or of its estate of Büdesheim.[3]

Oldest construction, in the cellar of the main building in the lower castle

Lissingen Castle by night

Following attacks on the abbey by Normans in the 9th century, fortified towers and later castles were built to protect it. The castle at Lissingen took its present form as a defensible complex of buildings during the heyday of chivalry in the High Middle Ages.[4]

The first documentary mention of Lissingen Castle dates to 1212, as a possession of the Ritter (knight) von Liezingen. In 1514, Prüm Abbey enfeoffed Gerlach Zandt von Merl with Lissingen. In 1559, the castle was then divided into two sections, the upper and the lower castle. [5]

In 1661–63, Ferdinand Zandt von Merl almost completely rebuilt the lower castle. By incorporating three medieval residential towers, he created an imposing manorial residence. There was a small annexed chapel, which is mentioned in 1711 and 1745 as the oratory of the von Zandt family. This was surrendered in the early 20th century.[6]

After Anton Heinrich von Zandt’s death in 1697, Wilhelm Edmund von Ahr was the owner of the castle. He doubled the size of the inhabited part of the castle.

In 1762, the elector of Trier (as procurator of Prüm Abbey) enfeoffed Josef Franz von Zandt zu Merl with Lissingen. A few years later, in 1780, as an Imperial Knight of the Holy Roman Empire, the latter became Freiherr of Lissingen, a small autonomous territory. Lissingen retained this status until the abolition of the Feudal system, and the castle was greatly extended, in particular by the addition of a much larger tithe barn and stables.

As a result of the French Revolution, in 1794 the region of the left bank of the Rhine, including the estate of Lissingen Castle, came under French administration.[7]

The Eifel became a Prussian possession in 1815. In the years that followed, both sections of the castle changed hands several times, until they were reunited in 1913 under a single owner, who developed the property into a large agricultural operation.

Lissingen Castle about 1880 - painting by Eugen Bracht

The construction of a small power plant, which began operation in 1906, had an appreciable effect on the economic operation of the castle. This provided electricity for the castle, approximately 50 houses in the settlement of Lissingen, and the local train station. Private power generation ended in 1936, when the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk took over service to Lissingen.[8]

In 1932, a Cologne brewery owner by the name of Greven acquired the property, which had been affected by the international economic crisis. He developed the large agricultural infrastructure on the south side of the castle, including in 1936 a new cowshed with a milking parlor, a milk processing plant, a refrigerated storage area and one of the first milk bottling plants in the Eifel.

During World War II, the castle served as a billet for several Wehrmacht regiments and as command post for the German General Staff. Towards the end of the war, it was used as a temporary prison for highly ranked military captives.

After the war, the Greven family resumed dairy and livestock farming operations. Until 1977, the lower castle was operated as an agricultural enterprise by a leaseholder. However, the estate ceased to be economically viable as a farm. The castle buildings, especially the gatehouse of the upper castle and the entire lower castle, were increasingly neglected and fell into disrepair. Investment in the buildings resumed only after both sections of the castle came into the hands of new owners.[9]

The lower castle includes the following structures:

• the historic courtyard or bailey
• the manorhouse
• the castle mill (now a restaurant and a bakery)
• former storehouse (now a museum)
• the so-called summer kitchen
• the gatehouse
• the tithe barn with horse stables
• the large barn (now a museum),
• the carriage house (now a museum)
• the farmyard, with herb garden and chestnut grove
• the former power station
• the former training paddock (today roofed seating)
• the former cowshed (today exhibition and sales space)
• locksmith's shop, magazine, machine hall, and silos
• livestock enclosures and building
• the inner millstream

Today the palatial manorhouse is in Renaissance style. It was created in 1661–63 by combining three medieval residential towers into a single angled structure. The oldest architectural remnants in the castle are to be found in the cellar of this building and in the vaults under the large terrace in front of it, and may date to the Carolingian era. On the ground floor, in addition to reception and dining rooms, there is a rustic estate kitchen. Above this floor is a mezzanine level with appreciably lower ceilings, which formerly housed the actual living spaces for the owners. The upper floor above that contains three high-ceilinged formal rooms with remarkable sandstone chimneypieces.[14]

The castle mill was originally a freestanding building outside the castle defenses. It was integrated into the castle complex only in the course of later extensions that resulted from the division of the castle. The mill ground wheat for flour; the miller paid 5 malter of grain, 6 guilders and 8 albus in rent and for water usage. In addition, the lords of the castle were permitted to have their grains ground free at any time with no flour kept back by the miller.

Already by the early 20th century, electricity was being generated at the mill using the water; this was the origin of the later power plant. Around 1920, a large wood-fired stone oven, a so-called Königswinter oven, was installed, which provided the bread needed by the many people living and working at the castle. The oven has been restored and is again in use, providing baked goods for purchase and for consumption at the castle.[15]

• 
  Aerial view, lower castle in foreground
• 
  Courtyard of lower castle
• 
  View from the north
• 
  Carriage house
• 
  Tithe barn

On the western side of the castle there is still a large meadow area, bordered in part by the Oosbach stream and in part by a millstream that branches off from it. The Oosbach originally fed the moats and later provided water to drive the mill and the electrical generator. In addition the water was used for the animals, to farm fish, and for firefighting. The millstream has largely been preserved and it has been possible to briefly reactivate it. The meadow area has been restored to showcase various biota and sculptures and provide locations for relaxation and nature observation. In 2004 it was featured in the Trier garden show.[10][16]

The lower castle grounds also include the historic approach to the castle (the Im Hofpesch path and the millrace path, both with old trees along them) and the upper stretch of the millstream and the sluice that diverts the water from the Oosbach.

The upper castle includes the following structures:

• The courtyard or bailey (bounded by buildings and a wall)
• Main building of the upper castle (an extended manorhouse in Renaissance and Baroque style)
• The so-called "Archive" (an extension that formerly belonged to the lower castle)
• Gate tower (14th-century, originally the only entrance to the castle)
• Barn (the southern side of the courtyard)
• Washhouse (eastern side of the courtyard)
• Administration building (Baroque)
• Park (originally the kitchen garden for both sections of the castle)
• Chapel house (a small building between the barn and the administration building that originally served as a chapel and burial place and was later converted into a residence)
• Gate house (an imposing Renaissance structure)
• Farmer's cottage (18th-century, between the upper castle gatehouse and the lower castle tithe barn), with living quarters, stable, barn, and a small courtyard.

• 
  Aerial photograph, upper castle in foreground
• 
  Towers of the upper castle, from the north
• 
  Upper castle