BOMMEN BEREND
His full name was Christoph Bernhard Freiherr von Galen. He was born in Drensteinfurt, 12 oct 1606, and died in Ahaus, 19 sept 1678. From 1650 he became "Fürstbischof von Münster". He could be polite an gentle but didn't liked opposition. This became worse in his later days.
Haus Bisping
On the next image you see my painting of his "birthhouse" in Drensteinfurt. It is called "Haus Bisping". (Note 2) It was a cloudy rainy day when I took this image with an interesting gloomy, dark atmosphere around it. It is painted on an aluminium panel 18 x 24 inch (46 x 61 cm).
Why this painting? About Bernhard von Galen I learned in school and his nickname "Bommen Berend" stick to me. He attacked the Dutch Republic several times. This nickname is given to him during the siege of Groningen where he used a lot of boms in trying to conquer the city.
The house belonged to his father Dietrich von Galen zu Bisping. (Note 3) He was an Erbmarschall. During a Landtag in february 1607, an official meeting, he killed another Erbmarschall. He was arrested and for 12 years he was kept in detention at Burg Bevergen. Bernhard was then only a couple of months old. Bernhards mother joined Dietrich at Burg Bevergen and probably she took young Bernhard with them. Probably there life on Burg Bevergen wasn't that bad because they were of "noble birth". In 1616 Bernhard at an age of around 10 years was placed under custody of his uncle, Heinrich von Galen, for his education. (Note 4) It might be that Bernhard only stayed those first months of his life in house Bisping.
Bernhard von Galen is born in 1606. The house carries on its side the year 1651. What does this mean? The house is clearly a mixture of different materials. The lower part is mainly sandstone whereas the upper part are bricks. But the transition from sandstone to bricks is not a uniform line. It seems the big door in sandstone on the frontside, the old gate, was closed with bricks in later years. My thoughts are that the lower part is the original house and that around 1651 the house was partly destroyed. (a fire ?) So they rebuild it with bricks using the remains of the old house as a basis.
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NOTES
Note 1: Both pictures can be found on the Wikipedia site.
Note 2: My main focus was this remarkable building which was only the gatehouse to the castel. In german language it is called a "Wasserschloss". When the castel was destroyed and why I don't yet now. It now is surrounded by a couple of other buildings old and new. In the language of 1600 talking about Haus Bisping might have ment an estate with a lot of farmland, farmers with their families and houses and other property. On the next image you can see how it looks nowadays... It is now a private property
Note 3: This can be found on http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/Haus_Bisping. Dietrich (old german language: Diderich) von Galen zu Bisping got the house from his father also named Dietrich von Galen who was the grandfather of Bernhard. The grandfather got the house in 1564 from his brother Heinrich von Galen zu Veilinghausen who got the house by his mariage with Clara Frydag. The grandfather didn't got the ownership of the house. In 1571 28 april Clara Frydag made her Will and by this document the grandfather inherited Haus Bisping. (http://www.hammwiki.de/wiki/Urkunde_1571_April_28) The grandfather of Bernhard was married to Bernharda Wulf a daughter of Clara Frydag. Clara Frydag was married three times and survived all her husbands.
Note 4: This information I gathered on Wikipedia using the german and english version.
Some questions I still have. Was Dietrich von Galen zu Bisping immediately after the killing detained and put at Burg Bevergen? Did he loose all his property, also Haus Bisping, as part of the punishment? And had Bernhard von Galen interest to reclaim or buy the house back as he became rich and powerful?
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