Nederland - Bemmel, De Kinkelenburg

Kasteel De Kinkelenburg was known during the late Middle Ages as Hof te Bemmel. The house was first mentioned in the year of 1403, when Johan van Ambe inhabited the moated house in Bemmel. These counts used the castle as a hunting lodge, so it probably never served as a real castle.

The castle probably consisted then of a square stone tower-house. The attached gate tower may date from the same period. Somewhere in the 16th and 17th centuries, the towers were connected by a building. In 1765 the house was expanded with a wing. It is unknown where the name Kinkelenburg comes from.

The castle was converted into a villa by private individuals in the 19th century and lost its medieval character. The last private owners and residents were members of the Homan van der Heide family, who sold the castle in 1948 to the municipality of Bemmel.

During World War II, the municipality commandeeredDe Kinkelenburg as emergency accommodation and was used as an emergency hospital. The largest part of the building was demolished and rebuilt according to the model of old drawings. It was then put into use as the town hall of the municipality.

Today De Kinkelenburg is a wedding and meeting location of the municipality of Lingewaard. Since 1971 the castle is a national state monument.