Burg Boetzelaer hosts weddings, family celebrations and company events for up to 120 guests in its great hall and adjoining side hall, with four rooms for civil or free ceremonies and 15 rooms and suites for overnight guests. The castle stands on the edge of Appeldorn, a village that belongs to the town of Kalkar on the Lower Rhine, close to the German and Dutch border.
Seminars and company events
The castle sells conference packages and company events, and its smaller rooms suit a board meeting, a workshop or a client day in a historic setting. The Kaminsalon, with its fireplace, the Herrenzimmer and the former chapel give a group separate rooms for plenary work and breakouts, while the Großer Festsaal can take a dinner for the whole team at the end of the day. Because the castle also has 15 rooms and suites, a two-day retreat can stay on site from the first session to breakfast on the second morning. The castle sends the content of its conference packages on request.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings are the core of the castle's event business. Couples can marry in a civil ceremony in one of the four rooms the castle uses for ceremonies, or hold a free ceremony outdoors in the park, under old trees. The reception and dinner then move to the Großer Festsaal and the adjoining side hall, which together take up to 120 guests. The Rittergewölbe, a historic vault on the ground floor, gives a different room for drinks or the late part of the evening. Guests can stay overnight in the castle, and the couple can take one of the suites.
Rooms and capacities
The castle publishes floor plans of the ground floor and the first floor. The five named event rooms are the Großer Festsaal, the Kaminsalon, the Herrenzimmer, the former chapel (Ehemalige Kapelle) and the Rittergewölbe. The castle states a combined capacity of up to 120 guests for the great hall and the side hall, and does not publish separate seated or standing figures per room. Birthday breakfasts are offered for groups of up to 80 people.
Accommodation
There are 15 places to sleep: ten rooms and suites in the main castle and the outer castle, and five rooms in the Kemenaten. The suites carry names such as Baronesse, Princesse, the Rapunzel maisonette and the Herold and Wappen junior suites. The rooms include Comtesse, Duchesse, Lady, Minne and Gaukler, and the Kemenaten are named Brunhild, Edeltraud, Gunnar, Krimhild and Sigurd. Breakfast is served every morning, on weekdays from 7:00 and on weekends and holidays from 8:00.
Catering
Events are supported by experienced catering companies that work with the castle, and the menu is agreed with them. A castle café receives groups on request on weekdays and runs its terrace season until the end of October, which suits a coffee break or an afternoon reception.
History and setting
The castle has a history of more than 760 years and was, at its height, one of the oldest and most important moated castles in the German and Dutch border region. It is linked to the van den Boetzelaer family, whose name it carries. After the war it was restored and partly rebuilt, and today it stands in a small park beside the Boetzelaer Meer, a lake on the edge of the village.
Getting there
The address is Reeser Straße 247, 47546 Kalkar-Appeldorn. The castle lies between the A3 and A57 motorways, about 15 kilometers from each, which puts it within driving distance of the Ruhr area and the Netherlands. Weeze Airport is the closest airport.
