Nordkirchen Castle was built for the prince-bishop Friedrich Christian von Plettenberg zu Lenhausen and his successor Ferdinand von Plettenberg, on the site of a 16th-century moated castle. It was largely built between 1703 and 1734 in several campaigns. Gottfried Laurenz Pictorius was the architect. Peter Pictorius the Younger joined from 1706, and Johann Conrad Schlaun from 1724.
The Baroque design has a taller central block flanked by lower wings that form a U around the cour d'honneur. The article notes Dutch precedents such as Het Loo but calls the design distinctly Westphalian. The castle stands on a rectangular island with four free-standing corner pavilions and a sandstone facing.
The State of North Rhine-Westphalia has owned it since 1959. It houses the state's finance college, which trains tax inspectors.
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