Moyland Castle

Moyland Castle (German: Schloss Moyland) is a moated castle in Bedburg-Hau in the district of Kleve, one of the most important neo-Gothic buildings in North Rhine-Westphalia. Its name derives from the Dutch word Mooiland which means "beautiful country". The name was probably coined by Dutch workers, which the former owner Jacob van den Eger of the Lower Rhine had brought to his property to drain the surrounding wetlands.

The building is now primarily a museum devoted to exhibiting the world's largest collection of work by artist Joseph Beuys. It is a popular destination on the Lower Rhine.

The palace complex consists of a closed, four-towered main keep, which is southeast of farm buildings in the front. The latter is home to a museum café, museum administration, the library and a space for changing exhibitions. The two-story main building of brick is presented in historicist Tudor style with battlements on corbels . The four floors of the former donjon on the southeast corner of the main keep were in 2008 crowned by a polygonal lantern roof. On the three other corners of the castle are horseshoe-shaped towers with three floors.

The southeast wall of the castle has a gateway formed by two polygonal towers outside with Pointed roofs and flanked by two slender round towers. On the first floor of the wing is the so-called Zwirner Hall, used for concerts and other events.

The stair railing on the stairway to the portal of the main palace are decorated with various animal figures. At the upper end are two lions - they are older originals. At the lower ends of the railing, the original lions were replaced by a wolf on the right and a pug on the left. The wolf was to commemorate the visit of Voltaire . The figure was selected to record for posterity the "ferocity" of the French philosopher in discussion with Frederick II. The pug represents Sir Winston Churchill. During World War II, he attended Moyland Castle in the wake of observing Operation Plunder - the Rhine crossing of the British Army. He was one of the last to visit the intact 200-year-old fortress in which the King of Prussia and Voltaire had their discussions. Shortly after Churchill's visit to the palace was looted and the interior largely destroyed.

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