Terworm Castle is
located in the municipality of Heerlen, Limburg Province, Netherlands. The castle
is part of the Terworm estate. The present building dates largely from the 17th
century when the original 15th century fortified building was
converted into a house. It comprises two wings in a T – shaped floor plan
surrounded by a moat.
A stone bridge dating
from 1843 is in the entrance. Between the two wings is a corner tower, which is
the oldest part of the castle dating from the 15th century.
Originally round the tower was converted to an octagonal in the 17th
century.
The west wing can be
dated to 1716, while the south wing has a keystone with he year 1718. The
castle garden is a reconstruction based on a French rococo garden laid out by
Count Vincent van der Heyden – Belderbusch in 1787 with roses lavender and
boxwood. The castle has existed since the
14th an has been inhabited by
several noble families. Originally it wa a square building, fronted by a round
tower and a rectangular tower and built around a walled courtyard. The first
known owner was Lord of Striithagen in 1476, when the castle was a moated
building fortified by external walls outside the moat. In 1498 the castle came
into possessionof the sheriff of Heerlen, Diederick van Pallandt. In 1542 the
castle came into possession of the van Hallen family, and was destroyed by a
fire in 1550, but rebuilt in the same style. The rebuilted completed by the
Whiilre family, was done in brick and the building was painted white to
disguise the difference in buildings materials. The castle remained in this family’s possession until 1738, when Friedrich
Wilhelm Freiherr von Wylre canon of Aachen died. His possession passed to
Philip Anton van der Heyden zu Belderbusch.
In 1767 the castle
was restored by Count Maximilian van derr Heyden – Belderbusch and the gardens
laid out in the French rococo style. In 1840 the castle was inherited by
Antoinette von Boselager, who was
married to Baron Otto Napoleon. After her death the castle came into possession
of the baron. His family extended the estate by purchasing many neighboring
farms.
In the late 19th
century the castle and the estate acquired its present appearance thanks to
Baron Francoise de Loe, who remodeled it in a Neo – Gothic style to the plans
of Lambert de Fisenne. Throughout the 20th century the castle were
in the hands of the Orange – Nassau mine and the castle housed some of their staff.
In the last decades
of the 20th century the castle became very run down until it was
bought by the Van der Valk hotel chain, who restored it. Now it is a hotel and
restaurant