Ahaus Castle is the former hunting residence of the Prince-Bishops of Münster in Ahaus. As early as the beginning of the 11th century, a castle stood on the site of today's baroque building, which belonged to the noble lords of Ahaus and passed into the possession of the prince bishop of Münster in 1406.
Between 1688 and 1695, the Capuchin monk Ambrosius von Oelde built the hunting lodge by order of the prince-bishop Friedrich Christian von Plettenberg. From 1765 to 1767, the Baroque master builder Johann Conrad Schlaun added a central risalit with a large flight of steps to the garden front after the destruction in the Seven Years' War.
In the 19th century, the castle housed a tobacco factory, among other things. In 1945 it was hit by a bombing raid and burnt out completely. The baroque furnishings of the rooms, which had been preserved until then, were lost. The district of Ahaus bought the ruins and had them rebuilt. Today the castle is owned by the district of Borken and houses the Ahaus Technical Academy. The district court of Ahaus is located directly next door. As the most important monument in the town of Ahaus, the castle is also the centre of cultural life.
References:The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.