Dr. Wilfried Grewing

For over 50 years, Dr. Wilfried Grewing dedicated himself to the reconstruction of Kakesbeck Castle

Kakesbeck Castle was his life's work. Dr. Wilfried Grewing dedicated almost half his life to the restoration and research of the castle. In 1971, he and his wife bought the listed but completely dilapidated building in the village of Elvert. And until his death in 2020 at the age of 92, Grewing was the lord of the castle with heart and soul.

"In 1971, the castle was a pile of rubble with the original substance," recalls Grewing. "It's been under construction here every day since then." When I visit him at the castle, eight chandeliers are being hung in the Knights' Hall. The restoration of this Gothic cellar alone took 20 years. "But look at it now," says Wilfried Grewing. At 90 years old, the lord of the castle exudes such passion for his home that you want to move right in. The tour continues into the Electors' Hall. Here, all the electors and their wives adorn the walls. Grewing has had all the nobles painted and still does.

What kind of person is this who has dedicated himself to Kakesbeck Castle? Grewing was very successful in his professional career. He completed an apprenticeship at Thyssen, studied business administration and law after the war and gained a doctorate. At the age of 36, he was on the board of a mining company, the youngest board member in Germany at the time. He later became the sole director of a group in southern Germany with several thousand employees. "What I start, I finish," said the 90-year-old.

The reconstruction of the old building will probably take many, many years. Grewing had already set the course for this in 2015. He transferred his property to the "Dr. Wilfried and Hildegard Grewing - Kakesbeck Castle Foundation". "It's great to see how the old walls are gradually shining in new splendor," says Grewing.

Oldest moated castle in Germany

Kakesbeck Castle is the oldest moated castle in Germany. For Grewing, it was a source of historical treasures. "Shards of 6000 vessels were found here," said the lord of the castle. 300 of them have been restored." The museum already has inventory number 1293, and his collection of moated castle paintings has already grown to 50. "I've been collecting for 50 years and I love the history of the nobility and their castles," said Grewing. Incidentally, his wife Hildegard comes from the imperial nobility. "After the Thirty Years' War, however, the family gave up their titles of nobility," said the lord of the castle.

The origins of Kakesbeck date back to around the year 800 and the complex has a diameter of one kilometer. There is archaeological evidence of 22 houses and nine towers in this fortified castle. The water surface area of the moats around the complex and the ponds within the grounds around the high medieval castle is around 30,000 square meters. "Before the Stever was regulated, it went right through the middle of the castle," Grewing explained.

Newspaper advertisement: Castle for sale

The lord of the castle considers the ecumenical castle chapel, which was rebuilt in 1988 and decorated by two painters with portraits of the "Saints of Kakesbeck" - interdenominational personalities who campaigned for peace and reconciliation - to be a showpiece of the extensive estate. Grewing has also written a book about this. The cathedral was built in 1488 by Lambert von Oer, who owned the castle at the time. The knight who became famous through the collar affair. Wilfried Grewing lived in the manor house until his death, which used to be the chicken coop. The long-time head of the company became lord of the castle through an advertisement in an Essen newspaper: "Castle for sale", it said. Nadine Wenge