Europe - Renaissance - Ruhr
Horst Castle Museum - Life and Work during the Renaissance

Gaudium Horst Castle / Photo: City of Gelsenkirchen

The stronghold dating from the 12th century was repeatedly rebuilt, and by the 16th century had become a Renaissance castle. Uniquely, many of the building records still exist. As such they are outstanding resource for research into the history of building castles and palaces and offer a detailed insight into how the work proceeded over 400 years ago.

A permanent exhibition entitled "Life and Work during the Renaissance" will open at Horst Castle on 4 November 2010. This interactive event will investigate the compelling findings provided by building research, excavations and documentary evidence. It will give visitors a taste of the conditions on a large-scale construction site all those years ago. Examining know-know transfer, working conditions, pre-industrial production facilities, logistical factors and, not least, the aesthetic demands made by the castle's extraordinarily well-educated owner, Rutger von der Horst, the exhibition will make visitors rethink any preconceived ideas they may have about living and working conditions in centuries gone by. The architectural treatises of ancient times and the Renaissance were as equally well known to Rutger von der Horst as the drawings and masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance. The castle on the Emscher reflects the sum total of these European influences.

That in itself is an excellent reason to place the Renaissance building in the national spotlight: from 10 to 13 November 2010, Horst Castle will be the venue for a scientific symposium that is also open to interested laypeople. The topic under consideration is "The Ruhr and the European Renaissance". To launch the event, the City of Gelsenkirchen invites participants to a reception and public lecture. Here the Rhineland's Director of Conservation, Prof. Dr. Udo Mainzer, will talk about the origins of Renaissance architecture in the Rhineland. On 11 November the focus will be on the European context, and in particular Belgium and the Netherlands, not forgetting the Lower Rhine region as a transfer zone. The afternoons will deal specifically with Horst Castle and the Ruhr: participants will be able to take part in guided tours of the protected building. The symposium will close with a day trip to the Rhenish State Museum in Bonn and the Museum Zitadelle in Jülich.

GAUDIUM.2010 - The Wedding
Visitors can experience the Renaissance "live" even before the museum opens. It’s all here: a jousting tournament and Renaissance dancing, sumptuous garments, jesters, a bustling market and Medieval music. This year again, the huge Medieval and Renaissance spectacle that is GAUDIUM.2010 will offer proof that history is not solely for academic research but can also be experienced and enjoyed at close hand.

Exploring the sights, sounds, tastes, smells and lifestyles of the Renaissance: for three days, numerous "living history groups" will set up camps modelled on their historical counterparts around Horst Castle and invite visitors to share in ways of living dating from the 12th to the 16th century. Participant groups will include Dulamans Vröudenton, La Riverenza, Elster Silberflug, Furunkulus Bladilo, Löwenritter, Communitas gladii and Lipper Fähnlein.

The highlight of the Renaissance festival will be the re-enactment of the wedding of Bertram von Loe and Margarethe von der Horst, daughter of the man behind the castle, Rutger von der Horst, in 1575. The bride’s arrival, the first dance, the wedding feast and the ensuing celebrations can all be enjoyed live in magnificent Renaissance surroundings. An admission ticket also serves as a wedding invitation, allowing the holder to watch at close hand as Bertram and Margarethe seal their vows. All this at a location that today is still the City of Gelsenkirchen's central registry office.

The spectacle of the wedding will be visually complemented by dance groups, entertainers, falconers, singers, fire-breathers, jugglers, artistes, jousting tournaments and Medieval market stalls. On Friday and Saturday evening, Medieval music will be played on the main stage while visitors refuel themselves with mead and suckling pig. On Saturday evening a stunning Renaissance firework display will light up the night sky.

And of course there will also be plenty for younger wedding guests to enjoy and explore - for example a ride on a Medieval merry-go-round made of wood. Young knaves can practice their sword-fighting, while sweet maidens can learn a Renaissance dance - or vice versa.

You can find additional information at:
www.schloss-horst.de
www.schlosshorst.de
http://kulturhauptstadt.gelsenkirchen.de/