Steinfurt - Historical Monuments

Historical Monuments

The Old Town Hall built in 1561 reveals in its gable the self-confidence of the economically successful citizens of Burgsteinfurt. The swinging contours of the Renaissance gable lead to seven peaked pyramids and the crest of the city. The turret of the town hall is supported by one big beam, called “Kaiserstiel” (i.e., emperor’s beam). The Gothic hall below on the first floor contained the city guard and the prison for a very long time. On the second floor you will find the big assembly hall of the city council and the chamber with the fireplace.

Opposite to the Town Hall the street leads to “Hahnenstrasse.” Right at the beginning you will discover the so-called “Huck-Beifang-Haus.” Eberhard Huck, the financial administrator of the Count, had built this house as an annex to his wife’s home in “Bütkamp 3.” The proud owner wrote down on the bay in Latin: ”Sunt hae structae aedes Eberhardie sumptibus Hucki. Ex his as superas sperat abire domos,” which would be in English something like: “This house was built at the expense of Eberhard Huck. From here he hopes he will come into heaven one day.” The bay is marked with the crest of the Huck family (Huck = hook) and Beifang family and the year 1607. The building, which was used in former times as a library and a stable for horses, is now used for exhibitions of fine arts and lectures.

From here a narrow medieval lane, the so-called “Kalkarstiege,” leads to “Bütkamp.” Here you will encounter several old buildings all at once: first the Haus Bütkamp 3 on the left side and the so-called Ackerbürgerhaus, a house inhabited by a citizen who was a farmer as well as a citizen of the town and who had his land outside the city walls. On the right side stands a very graceful half-timbered house with two storeys. It dates from the beginning of the 17th century and is called Kornschreiberhaus (“Bütkamp 14”). The second floor and the third floor extend into the street. In this way the house offered more space. Michael Oeglein from Swabia in southern Germany is regarded as the architect and first owner of this house. He was in charge of collecting the duties and taxes the farmers had to give to the Count in the form of rye and other grain before they were liberated at the beginning of the 19th century. He had to write down what the farmers handed in and, therefore, the house got its name “Kornschreiberhaus.”

The tall building with “Stadtbücherei” (city library) written on it is the so-called “Weinhaus” (wine-house). It is the oldest building at the market square. Built around 1450 by the Count, it served for the accommodation of his guests and later on for selling wine. It also represents the power the Count practised inside the city, because the market usually symbolized the wealth and power of the citizens. Because of certain defects in the construction of the building, the roof already had to be remodelled in 1490. The wall close to “Kirchstrasse” had to be rebuilt after the Thirty Years' War. And the stucco façade, a mix between Baroque elements and “Jugendstil” (Art Nouveau), was added in 1912. The house lodges a fireplace today, which originally stood in the house “Markt 16.” Contrary to the biblical stories it shows both Adam and Eve holding an apple.

Close to the Wine-House you will observe two houses in Renaissance style. The house “Markt 18” was owned by the judge and law professor at the “Hohe Schule,” Johannes Goddaeus, who had the house built on the foundations of a wine-shop. The house “Markt 16” was erected by the administrator of the Count Dr. Caspar Kestering, and his wife Adelheid Huberts immediately after the Thirty Years' War in 1648. Their initials can be seen in the crest of the two lions in front of the door. In the past there was a tavern, the cellar of which still exists. During the Thirty Years' War the house was destroyed, but Kestering had a new house put up on the foundation of the old one in the style of the so-called Dutch Renaissance.

Opposite to this house you will observe the Haus Pieter van der Swaagh, which was built in 1784 by the judge Friedrich Houth in classicistic style. The flowerpots on the house with the artificial agaves probably derive from the Bagno.

The tour leads on to “Burgstrasse.” It is worth having a look at the former “Kunsthaus” (House of Arts) of the Count. More than a hundred years ago it was a unique museum of works of art, stuffed crocodiles and strange instruments for scientific experiments. At the end of “Burgstrasse” there is the “Schlossmühle” (castle mill) on the left and the castle itself on the right. There was a mill on this site already in the Middle Ages, today there is a café and a restaurant.

The Castle is one of the most important buildings of Burgsteinfurt. Tours of the Castle are possible with a reservation, but only certain parts of it can be visited as it is still inhabited by the Prince and his family. A fortified castle was erected on a hill already dug up in the 10th century, but was destroyed in 1164 in a fight with the noblemen of Ascheberg nearby. The new facility contained an outer wall, the “Buddenturm,” a big tower for defence demolished in the 18th century, and the tower used for living with the Big Hall of Knights. A rare construction are the two chapels built on top of each other and used as a two-storeyed chapel. The auxiliary building (“Vorburg”) of today in front of the main residence or “Hauptburg” comprises flats, garages, stables and farm buildings. In the middle there is a little Baroque “house” for a well, built by the stonemason Johann Schrader.

From the castle and the market the majestic building of the “Hohe Schule,” a former university building, can be seen. To counter the activities of the Jesuits in Münster and “Münsterland,” Count Arnold IV (1554–1606) founded a Calvinistic university, once the oldest university in Westphalia. Starting in 1591 the “Hohe Schule” offered courses in law, theology, medicine/physics, philosophy, history and rhetoric. Doctors’ degrees, however, were not awarded in Burgsteinfurt. The “Hohe Schule” was built in the Renaissance style and is crowned by two weather vanes that are marked with the crest of Count Arnold IV and his wife. Around the big tower runs a gallery, where people could make astronomical computations. At the beginning of the 19th century the “Hohe Schule” was closed. It was used then by French troops under Napoleonic rule, later on as the seat of a law court and as a prison.

From the “Hohe Schule” an alley branches off, the so-called Kautenstege, actually Kortenstege or “short way.” At the beginning the old “Geisthaus” (House of the Holy Spirit) can be seen, the only surviving poorhouse of the city from the 15th century. In “Kautenstege” a memorial stone reminds the visitor of the Synagogue that once stood here and the Jewish citizens who were deported. The Synagogue was destroyed in November 1938. At the end of “Kautenstege” you reach Steinstrasse (“cobblestone street,” in former times the only paved street in Burgsteinfurt); on the right side there is the old town hall, the starting point of the tour.