Burg Nienborg

The remains of Burg Nienborg stand in the village of Nienborg, part of Heek in the Münsterland. Built in the late 12th century by Hermann II of Katzenelnbogen, prince-bishop of Münster, it guarded the trade route between Münster and Deventer. Only the gatehouse, parts of the Romanesque ring wall and three Burgmannenhäuser survive today.

The site was a ring castle with a ten-metre-high wall enclosing about thirty Burgmannenhäuser. The largest, the Hohe Haus, had walls three metres thick and a gate in its upper floor giving access to the rampart. A double-towered gatehouse marked the single entrance, protected by a fifteen-metre-wide moat fed by a stream and a regulating mill.

Visitors walk past the restored gatehouse and along the surviving ring wall. The Hohe Haus, rebuilt after a fire in 1600, now houses a café. Nearby, the Keppelborg and Langes Haus serve as guesthouse and music academy. The Dinkel river loops around the site, once flanked by marshes that could be flooded in attack.