Haus Laach was a castle complex built in 1246 from half-timbered oak - a border post in the Erft lowlands, which was inhabited until 1918 and demolished in 1945
The ruin belongs in my winter program:
When the trees are in leaf, you can't see anything from the path.
In summer, if you walk 50 meters across the field without causing any damage, you can hardly see the thorn bushes for all the stinging nettles and the moat filled with bushes and stones only when you have fallen in...
So I don't want to stylize it too much as an adventure, but if you really want to experience Haus Laach, you shouldn't wear sandals here.
The ruins are collapsing more and more, trees and bushes are growing: driving past is less worthwhile in summer - and discovering in shorts is something for those who swear by the blood circulation-promoting effect of stinging nettles.
Committed citizens want to preserve the ruins and the city wants to fence them in - but the last contact with the owner was in 2001...