Horstmar

Horstmar grew south of a castle in the Münsterland, with fortified houses of castle retainers lining its defences. In 1269 the lordship and castle were sold to the bishops of Münster, who made the town a centre of their rights and estates in the northwestern part of their territory. Horstmar prospered under the prince-bishops, and the castle became a favoured residence. During the Thirty Years' War it was destroyed on the orders of the Hessian commander Carl von Rabenhaupt. The town remained under Münster's rule until the beginning of the nineteenth century.