Boniburg Monument Handorf

In World War II, the castle served as a barracks for the Handorf airfield. To allow the planes to take off at night as well, the tip of the castle tower was cut off. At the end of the war, the occupying forces confiscated the property for five years. Afterwards, it became a youth meeting place, a storage for the props of the city theater, and an emergency shelter for refugee families. The structural condition of the building deteriorated steadily. Although drawings and calculations for the construction of a garden restaurant with a banquet hall were developed in the city administration, they were never implemented. Instead, in 1970, the city commissioned the Technical Relief Agency of Münster to demolish the building, which was carried out in November 1970. The city’s department head, Dr. Kelm, subsequently conducted a disaster exercise at this location.

As reactions from the residents of Münster show, the memory of the Boniburg is still quite vivid. As part of the Regional project, in 2006 the rubble of the former castle was removed from the Werse, and a Boniburg park was created, where the outlines of the former castle are marked; new trees were also planted, and seating areas were created. The formerly impressive beech tree with a trunk circumference of 6.60m could not be saved due to pest infestation.

GPS Biker