Haus Hohenbusch

Haus Hohenbusch stands south-west of Erkelenz in the Heinsberg district, enclosed by a high wall beside the road between Matzerath and Hetzerath. The site includes former gardens, meadows and orchards, with the A46 motorway running just to the north. Once home to the Order of the Holy Cross, it now belongs to Erkelenz town council and is cared for by a local support group.

The monastery was founded in 1302 after land was given by Rudolphus and Emertrudis in 1147 and confirmed by Emperor Frederick II in 1226. By 1560 it housed sixteen men, eight priests and eight lay brothers, and later grew to manage over a thousand morgen of fields, meadows and woodland. A new church was consecrated in 1634, followed by the Mittelbau in 1707 and the Westflügel in 1716. After secularisation in 1802 the buildings became a farm until the town bought the estate in 1983.

Visitors find the long two-storey Herrenhaus with its richly decorated stucco ceiling and marble-like fireplace. The surviving wings include the Zehntscheune, now a riding stable with a small café overhead, and the Laienbrüderhaus in the courtyard. A bronze model shows how the whole complex looked before 1802. The Priorensaal hosts private events, while the new herb garden behind the house recalls the monastery’s past. Regular programmes feature concerts, art shows and an autumn farmers’ market.