O n January 5th 1444 a certain Johann Raderd and his wife Fenneke purchased a piece of land from Herman von Bockraden, a member of an important noble family. This land was situated at Wehdel, near Badbergen Niedersachsen in Germany. A small castle, called "Die Borch to Wedele" had been built on this land in the second half of the 14th century by the family von Dinklage, from whom it was purchased by the von Bockraden family. It is likely that the castle was in a state of disrepair or possibly already a ruin by the time it was bought by Johann Raderd.
Either Johann Raderd or his son changed his name to Johann Wehlborgh, as was the custom of the day.
It is unknown where Johann Raderd came from, but probably from around Badbergen. He must have been an important and well-to-do person, as in those days common people were not permitted to buy land from the nobility. It is probable that he himself might belonged to the landed gentry and was venturing into farming again. There are indications that he was related to the Rahrt family from Grothe who certainly belonged to the landed gentry. From this date onwards, the farm has been in possession of the Wehlburg family - a period of 540 years.

Henrich Wehlborg

Around 1740 the Farm was inherited by Henrich Wehlborg. His elder brother Jürgen became the forefather of the Dutch Wehlburgs thanks to his son Jürgen III, who emigrated to Amsterdam.

Henrich built a new farmhouse in 1750, more or less as it stands today.
The story goes that he made a bet with a neighboring farmer as to who could use most oak wood in building the farmhouse. He won the bet which is not surprising when one sees the amount of wood used in the building. It cost him a considerable amount of money, which put him into heavy debt.

His brother Jürgen became the owner of the farm Burlage by marriage. He changed his name accordingly to Burlage.

Henrich had only daughters. His daughter Maria inherited the farm. She married her cousin Johann Schierding, a son of her father's sister. Johann Schierding changed his name to Johann Wehlburg.
Under the able management of Johann, and later his son Gerhard, the debts were more or less paid off, and the Wehlburg farmer had become a man of great importance in the community with a respectable farm.

Rolf Wilhelm Heinrich Wehlburg

In 1961 the farm was inherited by Rolf Wilhelm Heinrich. "Die Wehlburg" needed restoration very badly, and was in a bad state of repair, but there was no money for such a tremendous job.
Rolf Wilhelm Heinrich made a deal with the Museum at Cloppenburg. The Museum would buy "Die Wehlburg" and would give credit for the building of a modern farm building on the Wehlburg compound.
Rolf Wilhelm Heinrich died in 1971, a few weeks before delivery of the new buildings took place.

The law of inheritance by the youngest son had just been changed to the youngest child. The new farm was therefore inherited by his daughter Ursula Helga Erika. In 1984 she took over the farm. She married Manfred Ruthmann and took her husband's name.
That meant the end of 540 years of Wehlburg farmers.

Museumsdorf Cloppenburg

"Die Wehlburg" was taken down stone by stone at Wehdel, and carefully rebuilt at the site of the Museumsdorf Cloppenburg. The job was beautifully done and "Die Wehlburg" is one of the showpieces of the museum, as it is one of the best examples of a typical 18th century Saxon farm building.

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