In 1437, members of the Order of the Knights of the Cross founded the late Gothic Bentlage Monastery. It was extended again and again. In 1803 it was secularised and became the residence of the Rheine-Wolbeck principality. Only three years later it was handed over to the noble family Looz-Corswarem. They converted the former monastery into a castle.
Since 1978 the property has been owned by the city of Rheine, which developed it into a cultural meeting place and monastery museum from 1989 to 2000. The highlight of the exhibition there are two reliquaries, which are unique in their state of preservation in the German-speaking world. Sophisticated temporary exhibitions regularly attract numerous visitors.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.