Vinsebeck Castle
Description
In 1720, Drost Johann Friedrich Ignaz, along with his three brothers Ferdinand Ernst Adam, Adolf Franz Friedrich, and Mauritz Lothar von der Lippe, all of whom were canons in Paderborn, had a Baroque-style castle constructed on a square island on the Heubach, a tributary of the Emmer, by the master builder Justus Wehmer.
In 1767, the male lineage of the Vinsebeck branch of the von der Lippe family came to an end with the death of Moritz Anton Freiherr von der Lippe. As a result, the castle passed to his sister Theresia, who was married to Hermann Werner von der Asseburg zu Hinnenburg. Theresia, in turn, passed on the castle and other properties to her daughter Antonette, who was married to Johann Ignatz Graf Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht.
Around 1795, the Wintrup branch of the von der Lippe family brought a lawsuit against the Wolff-Metternich Counts for control of Vinsebeck. The plaintiff contested a family contract from 1767 that had abolished the male-only inheritance rule, allowing for inheritance through the female line. The unsuccessful legal battle extended over 40 years. Today, the castle is owned by Simeon Graf Wolff-Metternich.