Burg Bentheim

Description

"Burg Bentheim", a medieval castle in #BadBentheim (Lower Saxony), stands on a 91.9m sandstone hill built from local Bentheimer sandstone. The architecture mixes romanesque, gothic, and renaissance elements: a 13th-century lower gate, a 17th-century upper gate designed by Dutch architect Philips Vingboons, the gothic Kronenburg residence, and a circa-1525 powder tower with medieval dungeon offering sweeping views. The 12th-century Katharinenkirche chapel houses the Bentheim Crucifix, a sandstone cross. Since the mid-12th century, the castle has stayed in family hands through inheritance, first via Otto II van Rheineck and his kin, then through marriage to the counts of Holland (leading to Otto van Bentheim), later the Van Güterswyk (who became Van Bentheim), with Steinfurt added by marriage.