BURG BENTHEIM
A sandstone fortress on the moor.
Burg Bentheim sits on a sandstone ridge above the town of Bad Bentheim, commanding views across the lowlands to the Dutch border. The castle has been the seat of the Counts of Bentheim since the 11th century and is one of the largest castle complexes in northwestern Germany.
The castle’s history mirrors the history of the county — contested between bishops and counts, affected by the Reformation, damaged in the Thirty Years’ War, and rebuilt in each era. The sandstone from which it’s built is the same Bentheimer sandstone that was exported across northern Europe for building churches and palaces.
Rulers of the Grafschaft.
The Counts of Bentheim were minor nobility in the complex political landscape of the Holy Roman Empire. They navigated between the powerful Bishopric of Münster, the Duchy of Cleves, and the Dutch Republic. After converting to Protestantism in the 16th century, they ruled a county with a mixed population of Reformed Protestants and Catholics.
The Catholic communities in the eastern part of the county — including Wietmarschen — maintained their faith under Protestant rule. This religious divide shaped the social structure of the county for centuries and is part of the context from which the Luense family emerged.
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