Westerwinkel Castle is one of the earliest baroque castles in Westphalia. The closed four-winged complex was built in the middle of the 17th century. The castle changed hands several times. It came into the possession of the present lords of Westerwinkel, the Counts of Merveldt, in 1555 when Herman von Merveldt married Ursula von Diepenbrock, heiress daughter of Westerwinkel.
The castle was built in the middle of an English garden. It is a complex of moats whose origins can be traced to the early Baroque style and whose principles correspond to the moats of the castle in the Middle Ages. However, the moats were not dug for defensive purposes, as this system of defence was already obsolete at the time, but with an architectural objective that is representative of the Baroque style.
The entire complex extends over two rectangular islands, the buildings are on the eastern island, the garden is on the western island. Very striking are the different perspectives on the palace when walking around the historic complex.
References:Prunn Castle is perched on an almost vertical Jurassic outcrop high above the Altmühl river valley south-west of Regensburg. Its impressive appearance from a distance is matched by the views from the castle of the surrounding Altmühltal countryside.
Lords of Prunn were first mentioned in 1037, and they will have certainly chosen the site because of its favourable position on several transportation routes. The castle itself dates from around 1200, a time when many castles were being built. The Danube region centring around Kelheim became very important in this period under the Bavarian duke Ludwig I. One of the oldest parts of the castle is the 31-metre keep.
In 1288, Duke Ludwig of Bavaria acquired the castle from the lords of Prunn-Laaber. In the first half of the 14th century the duke then invested the Fraunberg vom Haag family with the castle.