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Founded: 1608-1616Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Germany
Historical period: Reformation & Wars of Religion (Germany)
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Schloss Holte is a baroque water castle from the 17th century located in the East Westphalian town of Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock. It is the successor to a water castle from the 14th century, which was destroyed by fire in 1556. Rebuilt as a hunting lodge from 1608 to 1616, incorporating existing building remnants, by Count Johann III. of East Frisia and his wife Sabina Catharina von Rietberg, it passed through marriage at the end of the 17th century to the Kaunitz family.
In 1822, Friedrich Ludwig Tenge acquired the neglected property and converted it into a residence for his son-in-law. Simultaneously, the entrepreneur built an ironworks south of the castle. The estate is still privately owned by the Tenge-Rietberg family, who have established rental apartments in the castle. The buildings and the park are not open to the public.
Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.