From a monastery to a first-class home for the aged
The Castle Merten, which was a monastery originally, is a first-class home for the aged today.
The so-called Castle Merten is a building of a former monastery. This Augustinian monastery, which is said to have been donated by the Countess Mathilde von Sayn, was mentioned in a document of Otto von Kappenstein and his wife Kunigunde for the first time in 1217. In 1699, monastery and church were totally destroyed by a fire. The re-erection had taken place over decades. Thanks to its restoration around 1950, the church was put back into its original Romanesque state. Unfortunately, the equipment of the church suffered losses from robbery and war in the course of the decades. Still worth seeing though are the wood-carved, colourful figures of a saint from the early 18th century, a statue of the Mother of God from the time around 1700, as well as a silver (partly gold-plated) sun monstrance and a chalice from the goldsmith of Conrad Frings of Cologne (around 1730).
Part of the building is also a small neo-Baroque castle, which was erected by the Earls Droste zu Vischering von Nesselrode-Reichenstein after they purchased the monastery around 1909.
Today, the castle is used as a first-class home for the aged, but it is open to the public. Quite worth seeing is the inner court yard with a pond and the so-called “Orangerie”, in which there is a little café.
The Castle Merten, which was a monastery originally, is a first-class home for the aged today.
The so-called Castle Merten is a building of a former monastery. This Augustinian monastery, which is said to have been donated by the Countess Mathilde von Sayn, was mentioned in a document of Otto von Kappenstein and his wife Kunigunde for the first time in 1217. In 1699, monastery and church were totally destroyed by a fire. The re-erection had taken place over decades. Thanks to its restoration around 1950, the church was put back into its original Romanesque state. Unfortunately, the equipment of the church suffered losses from robbery and war in the course of the decades. Still worth seeing though are the wood-carved, colourful figures of a saint from the early 18th century, a statue of the Mother of God from the time around 1700, as well as a silver (partly gold-plated) sun monstrance and a chalice from the goldsmith of Conrad Frings of Cologne (around 1730).
Part of the building is also a small neo-Baroque castle, which was erected by the Earls Droste zu Vischering von Nesselrode-Reichenstein after they purchased the monastery around 1909.
Today, the castle is used as a first-class home for the aged, but it is open to the public. Quite worth seeing is the inner court yard with a pond and the so-called “Orangerie”, in which there is a little café.
