“During the Middle Ages: as far as the eye could see, the land was covered in dense forest, ponds, swampland and multiple moated castles. There was a lot of money to be made, not least with the trade of horses. Many noble residences were built with proceeds of such transactions. The political rule was divided among three regional authorities: the archbishop and electoral prince of Cologne, the count abbess of Essen and the count of the march. The “von Horst” family settled between the borders of these territorial lords during the 12th century. As a result, they were obligated to carry out their feudal duties for all three and bound to serve them. As lower nobility, they had to cleverly stay out of conflicts between the noble houses, which happened from time to time. Rutger von der Horst was at the service of the archbishop of Cologne, while simultaneously being tied to the powerful duke Jülich, Kleve and Berg.”
