Toutenburg Castle

Toutenburg Castle, locally known as Kasteel Toutenburg, lies in the town with the same name, in the province of Overijssel in the Netherlands.

Toutenburg Castle was built between 1524 and 1552 on the orders of George Schenck, the sheriff of Vollenhove. He served the bishop of Utrecht and was appointed stadtholder of Groningen in 1536 by Emperor Charles V because of his military successes.

When it was completed Toutenburg Castle was a moated, rectangular building with two residential wings and two curtain walls. These enclosed a square courtyard with a freestanding keep. The entrance to the castle was at its west side by means of a gate flanked by two circular towers. The east side of the castle was equipped with two circular corner towers.

After the death of the last member of the Schenck family, the already dilapidated castle came into the possession of the Van Boetzelaer family. In 1627 part of the castle was repaired by Rutger van Boetzelaer. The castle was regularly inhabited until 1745 but deterioration had already set in from 1700 on.

In 1787 the castle had decayed so much that rebuilding wasn't an option anymore. So when building materials were needed for the Great Church in Vollenhove its stones were sold. In 1810 the castle came into the possession of the owner of the neighboring Oldruytenborgh Manor. He tore down the castle ruin and used its stones to repair his manor. Everything was demolished except for part of the gate building because having a romantic ruin in the garden was in fashion.

The castle ruin was given to the Vollenhove city council in 1947. It now consist of only the part of the gate building on a, more or less, rectangular island. The wooden stage in front of the ruin was used for cultural activities during the 1950s.

The park is freely accessible but the moated island on which the ruin is situated can not be visited.

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