It was named after the knights van der Arffe, who were first mentioned in a document in 1366. The knights, who were feudatories of the Cologne archbishopric for a good two centuries, were succeeded by the von Baesgen family in 1572 and later by the von Blittersdorf family, who sold the estate to the von Buschmanns before 1750. The medieval castle is said to have been destroyed during the Truchsess War, which broke out in 1583. Nothing is known about the appearance of the castle at that time.

Arff Castle, which the two Cologne canons von Buschmann had built from 1750 to 1755 on the site of the medieval predecessor castle, is considered one of the most important Baroque buildings in the Rhineland. The von Buschmanns were succeeded by Count von Hompesch, who sold his property to the Electorate of Cologne's Collector General, Baron Geyr von Schweppenburg, in 1803.

The French court architect Michael Leveilly, architect to the Cologne Elector Clemens August, not only built the magnificent, strictly symmetrical Arff Palace, but also worked on Augustusburg Palace and planned Falkenlust Palace in Brühl and Bonn Town Hall. Leveilly is named as the successor to master builder Schlaun from 1728 to 1762. He was influenced by François Cuvilliés. A special feature of the construction of Arff Palace was that Leveilly built the main house and outer bailey at the same time - as well as the park and enclosure. The façade of the plastered main building with its discreet stucco ornamentation was repaired in the 1950s and 1960s under the direction of the then Cologne government architect Band, the restorer of many Cologne churches, and painted with pink and grey mineral paints. During these years, the last original foundations made of oak piles under the main building also had to be replaced by reinforced concrete ones - a consequence of the permanent lowering of the groundwater level as a result of open-cast lignite mining west of Cologne's city limits around Kerpen and Grevenbroich.

Following the death of the last occupant from the family of Baron Geyr von Schweppenburg, Schloss Arff became the property of the Baron von Landsberg-Velen family in 2015. Following extensive renovations and the conversion of the former stables into an "event barn", Schloss Arff with its wonderful park, barn and surrounding grounds is now available for events of all kinds.

Since then, Wolkenburg GmbH from Cologne has been responsible for marketing the event location and organising your event.

In the midst of a green oasis, characterised by the wonderful hundred-year-old trees, visitors to the stately country estate quickly feel as if they have been transported to another world. The history of Arff Castle dates back to the Middle Ages.

Welcome to Arff!