Kasteel Hoensbroek in the Netherlands

Castle Hoensbroek or Gebrookhoes (Castle Gebrook) (Kasteel Hoensbroek) is one of the largest castles in the Netherlands. The tall round tower, dates from around 1360, when it was built by Herman Hoen, though a predecessor to the castle had already existed since 1225. According to the official website of the Castle, the oldest section of the castle structure dates from 1250. There are 40 different beautiful halls and rooms in the castle.

Castle Hoensbroek is located in the southern part of the province of Limburg in the village of Hoensbroek (municipality of Heerlen). It lies about 25 km from Aachen and from Maastricht.

Over the centuries the castle has received extensive rebuilding and expansion three times. The different architectural styles from the different centuries (14th, 17th and 18th) are easy to separate from each other. The complex is surrounded by a moat and has four wings situated around a rectangular courtyard. The main building is reachable over a bridge. The main building has two identical square towers with union-tops, flanking the entrance, and two taller half-separate corner towers of irregular shape at the backside. The forecastles are both U-formed and enclose two large inner courts.

This postcard came from Alex (18 June 2015) Postcrossing Direct Swap.