Weißhaus in Sülz once served as a summer residence for monks. Over the centuries, it was destroyed, burned down, and rebuilt as a moated castle. Today, it belongs to a mattress mogul, a fact that not everyone welcomes.
(Source: Raimond Spekking)
Reddish-brown iron fences, several meters high, rise on the front side of the entrance. The north and south sides are secured with thick walls and barbed wire. Signs indicate that the area is monitored by video cameras. The message to the curious is clear: No unauthorized person is allowed access.
In summer, when ivy and other plants overgrow the iron fences, the view of Weißhaus Castle is almost entirely obscured. Only in a few places can one catch a glimpse of the private grounds and imagine how beautiful it is. The view includes a large water surface, providing habitat for birds and other animals, as well as well-maintained gardens and trees.
The key details of the area at Luxemburger Straße 201 are impressive: Over 20,000 square meters of space offer ample room. The moated castle itself covers 873 square meters and, in addition to eleven rooms, boasts a swimming pool, sports rooms, and its own chapel, commissioned in 1849 by merchant Johann Adam Jansen. The architect was the later cathedral master builder Vincent Statz.
Destroyed, burned, flooded
Weißhaus was first mentioned in a document from 1378. At that time, the property belonged to the abbots of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Pantaleon in Cologne. Over the centuries, Weißhaus had to be rebuilt repeatedly. In 1474, it was destroyed by the city of Cologne for security reasons when Charles the Bold advanced with his army during the Neuss War. After being rebuilt, it fell victim to a fire in 1584.
Restored again, Weißhaus was destroyed in 1658 by a flood from the nearby Duffesbach. The builders then reconstructed the building as a moated castle for the first time. In 1669, Abbot Aegidius Romanus expanded the complex as a summer residence for St. Pantaleon. During World War II, the estate was once again destroyed, and reconstruction took until 1953. The new owner of the moated castle was the Frechen brick entrepreneur Heinrich Wolf, who also secured the adjacent Weißhaus cinema.
City of Cologne did not want to buy Weißhaus
Wolf died in 2010. Five years later, the community of heirs began looking for a buyer for Weißhaus Castle. The city of Cologne could have acquired the site and made it accessible to the public, but the council found the alleged purchase price of €8.5 million too high. They also feared additional high costs for maintenance, renovation, care, and operation. In 2019, real estate agent Greif & Contzen announced that the site had been sold, but the buyer and sale price were not disclosed.
Even today, the massive entrance door of Weißhaus Castle does not reveal its owner. Only a small note with the contact details of the caretaker hangs on the mailbox. For a long time, the buyer remained a mystery. It is now clear that the current owner is Berlin entrepreneur Adam Szpyt.
Who is Weißhaus owner Adam Szpyt?
In 2004, Szpyt founded Bett1.de, a bed retailer with direct sales via the internet. By offering significantly lower prices, he shook up the market. His approach has been successful. In 2021, Bett1’s revenue was estimated at around €130 million by Statista, though there are no newer or official figures available.
Szpyt has also recently appeared as a sponsor of tennis tournaments and supports sports at primary schools in Berlin and Brandenburg with his own initiative. Beyond this, little is known about him.
City of Cologne wanted to make the park accessible to the public
The excitement among Cologne residents about a Berlin entrepreneur buying the moated castle complex is limited. There was a time when previous owner Heinrich Wolf opened his castle park to others, even allowing children to ice skate on his pond in winter. According to the “Kölner Rundschau,” the city prepared a financial offer in 2020 to persuade the current castle owner to open the grounds to the public. However, this attempt apparently failed.
To this day, Szpyt remains secretive about what he plans to do with the area beyond personal use. At the edge of a tennis tournament at Lanxess Arena in October 2020, he told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”: “We have something planned for it; the city can be excited. Maybe we’ll do something for artists there.” So far, there has been nothing more than this hint.
One thing is certain: Since the castle and park complex has been listed as a historic monument since 1995, Szpyt must obtain approval from the Lower Monument Authority for all construction projects and changes. However, requests from the authority to the entrepreneur have so far gone unanswered. It seems unlikely that the site will be made accessible to the public under the current owner.
