Reuversweerd Castle - Brummen

The Reuversweerd country house was built in 1830 and now has listed building status. Despite the fact that the building has been unoccupied since 1945, the castle has a fascinating history.

The original owner was the Colenbrander family. When the last heir died, it came into the hands of the Baron van Sytzama in 1941. He lived with his wife and children in the castle, which they had expanded to include a farm and a horse breeding station. During the Second World War they offered shelter to evacuees and people in hiding. They took in the mayor of Wieringen (Mr Kolff), an important resistance fighter from Brummen (Lau Beijnen) and three students who had refused to sign the Declaration of Loyalty. One of the students was a certain Erik. He kept a diary.

Around Easter 1945, on 1 and 2 April, German soldiers entered the manor. They confiscated two cellars to set up a transmitter. The residents of the house moved to another cellar. The Germans also installed transmission equipment in the attic, in the form of a telephone switchboard. From here they keep an eye on the Canadian army across the IJssel.

A few days later the fighting draws closer and closer, until suddenly a grenade lands just in front of the house. The Canadians had heard that transmitters had been installed, and that was the reason for the heavy fire on Reuversweerd.

The shelling continued for a long time. The dining room was hit, the piano collapsed and the office was destroyed. The clock stopped at two minutes to five. Not much later, SS men arrived with a truck and a car and took the Baron van Sytzama, his son and his sister-in-law, Mrs Van der Feltz, to Groot Engelenburg Castle. The Germans suspected them of being in the resistance and therefore interrogated and abused them. The remaining residents then left Reuversweerd.

In the days that followed, the Canadians advanced towards Brummen, which caused the Germans to feel cornered. The SS therefore shoot eight prisoners at Groot Engelenburg Castle, including Van Sytzama and Lau Beijnen. The castle is abandoned.

On Saturday 14 April 1945, the Germans also leave the now uninhabitable Reuversweerd Castle. The area is liberated a day later. The castle has not been occupied since.

In the years that followed, the castle became known as a haunted house. The clock would stop at the moment someone was murdered. There are now plans to turn the manor house into a reflection centre. Restoration work is in full swing and the centre should be ready in 2027.