From monastery to castle
During the Reformation, the Rastede Monastery lost its spiritual foundation. Through pension payments to the monks, Count Christoph von Oldenburg, canon in Cologne and brother of the reigning Count Anton I, managed to become provisor (administrator) of the dying order. After the last monk left the monastery in 1529, Christopher compared himself with his brothers and built himself a “leisurely apartment” at the monastery. With the death of the former canon in 1566, the building lost its last semblance of ecclesiastical function.
The horse lover Count Anton Günther (1583–1667) had a large stable built at the monastery in 1612. In 1643 the old abbot's house was demolished and the count had a hunting lodge built there, which he liked to use as a summer residence. With a central stair tower with an onion roof and two-story side wings, on the right and left, each with four window axes, the castle had the typical shape of the baroque regents' seats in the 17th century. In 1657 the former monk's courtyard was transformed into a “pleasure garden”.