Hengsteysee - Niedernhof - Business mansion Funckenburg near Herdecke
The Niedernhof, also called Villa Funcke or Funckenburg, is a business villa in Herdecke. It is located on the northern shore of Hengsteysee. Today, the "Cafee Seeschlößchen" is at home here.
The Niedernhof was built in 1872 as a country residence of Bernhard Wilhelm Funcke II. In 1895, the Hagen entrepreneur Bernhard Wilhelm Funcke III, owner of the screw factory Funcke & Hueck, acquired the grounds of the abandoned manor Haus Niedernhofen about 700 m further downriver. The villa was built in neo-Gothic style of natural stone and was popularly called the Funckenburg.
In order to be able to reach his factory in Hagen at any time without much detours, Funcke built a private iron pedestrian suspension bridge over the Ruhr, which spanned the river between two medieval towers. The southern bridge tower, today located on an island in the lake, has been preserved.
In 1919, the heirs of Wilhelm Funcke sold the site on the Ruhr to the Ruhrverband in Essen, which began in 1926 with the construction of the reservoir.