There are thousands of castles in Germany and the town of Nörvenich (and surrounding area of 14 villages) has five of them.
Before you get your armour (or, any other medieval castle adornment) in a bunch thinking that’s all Nörvenich has to offer, there is more to it than that. It’s motto of Kleine Gemeinde mit großem Herz (English: Little Town With A Big Heart) says a lot.
A few of the castles in the area are in ruins. Alte Burg (Old Castle) is one of them; only some of its original 13th century walls remain. Harff Castle is another one of Germany’s burgs that lie in ruins. It wasn’t very old when this mid 16th century castle fell into disrepair in the 1880’s. Call me silly, but there’s something romantic about castles; ruined or otherwise.
Burg Binsfeld is still intact, though. Technically, it’s a late 14th century water castle but it’s surrounded on only three sides by water. I guess that still counts as having a moat.
Burg Bubenheim is a wee bit older than Binsfeld, built a hundred and sixty years before. The dark stone castle might still be standing, but the Burg’s chapel of St. Nikolaus has been in ruins since 1883.
Schloss Nörvenich is the most popular, though. It has many uses from a wedding venue, a local museum, and has a sculpture park. If you got an event going on, you can rent out the Rittersaal (Knights Hall).
Another stop in Nörvenich that’s quite an attraction is the church of St. Medardus. It’s another medieval creation (circa 1177) but, the church was updated in the 17th century.
With all that time wandering around dark castles and churches, it’ll feel good to get outside. It’ll be fun for you and the kids to try and find your way out of the corn labyrinth. Even if you don’t, it’ll feel good to get out and see the sunshine.
You can enjoy it just the same playing some tennis, swimming, or riding along all the cycle trails. One of the more famous is the Kaiser-Route (Emperor’s Route) that goes on for some 480 km (approx 375 miles) through the Westphalian countryside from Aachen to Paderborn.
With that much love for maintaining castles and churches, I find Nörvenich’s motto “Little Town With A Big Heart” is right on.
