History of Castle Erenstein

The castle's history
Castle Erenstein was built in the 14th century and consists of two perpendicular medieval wings built of Nivelsteiner, a natural stone from the area.

Erenstein first known resident, recorded in 1363, was Adam van Ederen. Through the houses of Van Gronsveld, Huyn van Amstenrade and Spies van Büllesheim, in 1707 Erenstein eventually came into the hands of Hendrick Poyck, sheriff of Merkstein. He changed the entire appearance of the castle, building two round towers on the southern corners of the outer walls and a chapel in the centre of the southern façade. His son, Peter Casper Poyck, added a farmyard to the castle. This farmyard is enclosed by three sides of the square in front of the castle. In 1725, Peter Casper Poyck married the daughter of the well-known sculptor Gabriël de Grupello (1644 - 1730). De Grupello lived the last years of his life in Castle Erenstein. Through his presence, the castle became quite well known in the Netherlands and beyond.

After the French Revolution, the castle fell into the hands of the Colen brothers who sold it to the Franciscan Fathers in 1903. The Franciscans extended the castle by an extra wing that was not really in keeping with the rest of the castle. In the mid 20th century, the Council of Kerkrade took ownership of the castle. Restoration took eight years, from 1962 to 1970. The restoration brought the castle back to closely resemble its appearance during the Poyck period.

History of the hotel
Willem Hendrik Poyck, the son of Hendrick Poyck, at the time owner of Castle Erenstein built a large farmyard opposite the castle in 1713. He named the farmyard “Brughof”. The name Brughof was derived from the fact that the farmyard ("hof") overlooked a bridge ("brug") spanning the Anstel River and giving access to the town of Kerkrade.

Peter Casper Poyck, after the death of his father in 1717 and his brother in 1720, became owner of Castle Erenstein, the Hoeve de Brughof and all surrounding land. Poyck's strong personality contributed heavily to the improvement of agriculture and cattle farming on his land. While the Brughof was an important piece of property, the family never lived in the farm. Instead, it was lived in and maintained by tenants. Towards the end of the 1770s, Poyck took over the management appointing an overseer who managed the property until about 1785. After Poyck's death in 1781 and that of his wife in 1785, the farm changed hands several times under testamentary processes, and no longer belonged to the castle. Castle Erenstein and the Brughof only came together again once as the property of one family, and that was the Colen brothers in 1803. They leased the farm to the Damoiseaux family, who lived there for many years. In the years that followed, many tenants resided on the farm before it became vacant.

In 1983, the completely dilapidated farm was completely restored and converted into a luxury hotel.