Von Nievenheim House

This late Gothic building was constructed in 1524 by Martin von Oedt, a clergyman and scholar from Kempen. It is the town’s first residential building built entirely of stone, featuring a late Gothic stepped gable. Originally two storeys high, it was extended to three storeys in 1730.

The house is named after the Kempen bailiff Johann Constantin von Neukirch, known as von Nyvenheim (1596–1657), who acquired it after 1626 and may have lived here for a few years before moving to the castle, which had been converted into a residence in 1634. His coat of arms still decorates the east entrance.

Kempen’s chronicler Johannes Wilmius, whose father ran the town mills, was born here in 1585. During the Thirty Years’ War, Wilmius was a spiritual and intellectual support for the town in resisting the Hessian occupation. He died in 1655 as dean of Kaiserswerth. 

Today, the house belongs to the Catholic Church and provides accommodation for children and young people from the St. Annenhof children’s home.