Ängsö Castle, Västerås, Sweden

Ängsö Castle was first named as "Engsev" in a royal charter by king Canute I of Sweden (r. 1167-1196), in which he stated that he had inherited the property after his father Eric IX of Sweden. Until 1272, it was owned by the Riseberga Abbey, and then taken over by Gregers Birgersson.

From 1475 until 1710, it was owned by the Sparre family. The current castle was built as a fortress by riksråd Bengt Fadersson Sparre in the 1480s. In 1522, Ängsö Castle was taken after a siege by king Gustav Vasa, since its owner, Fadersson's son Knut Bengtsson, sided with Christian II of Denmark. However, in 1538 it was given by the king to Bengtsson's daughter Hillevi Knutsdotter, who was married to Arvid Trolle.

In 1710, the castle was taken over by Carl Piper and Christina Piper. Ängsö Castle was owned by the Piper family from 1710 until 1971, and is now owned by the Westmanna foundation. The castle building itself was made into a museum in 1959 and was made a listed building in 1965. It is currently opened to visitors during the summers.

The castle is a cubical building in four stores made by stone and bricks. The lower parts is preserved from the middle ages. It was redecorated and expanded in the 1630s. The 4th storey as well as the roof is from the expansion of Carl Hårleman from 1740-41. It gained its current appearance in the 1740s.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Sebastian Jakobsson (11 months ago)
Interesting, historical old castle with a ghostly past. Problematic to find any opening hours, but they said that they are working on a website to solve that.

Brandi Bridges (12 months ago)
We were on a nice 4 km ring walk through the nature reserve which started and ended here at the castle. After our walk we thoroughly enjoyed the homemade cakes and coffee offered in the cafe. There is outdoor seating and a small playground for the kids. I highly recommend adventuring out into the nature reserve!

Shahzad Ansari (3 years ago)
We visited a haunted place that has several scary stories. I can not guarantee that you will experience the fear, but there are many of these....

Marek Prywatne (3 years ago)
Nice looking palace with a great looking surroundings - especially church! Well-kept garden is entrance for a forest with very well prepared paths and grill areas next to lake

Frida B (4 years ago)
Impressive castle in the middle of a beautiful nature reserve with lots of different trails to explore.

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Kakesbeck is one of the largest medieval fortifications in Münsterland and the oldest castle in Lüdinghausen. The imposingly grown complex originated in 1120 as a motte, a small hilltop tower castle. After numerous changes of ownership, the castle was extended onto two islands, but it was not until the 14th century that it underwent significant alterations and extensions under the von Oer family. The estate experienced its heyday in the middle of the 18th century, when it covered an area of almost one square kilometre and consisted of five further outer castles in addition to the core castle, which were secured by ramparts and moats.

The well-maintained condition of the castle today is thanks to the late Wilfried Grewing, the former lord of the castle. The foundation named after him has been particularly committed to preserving the property since 2020.

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