The first written mention of the aristocratic seat of Haus an der Aa dates from around 1030. Around 1120, Bernhard von Diepenheim had Ahaus Castle built where Ahaus Castle stands today. In 1154 his son Lifhard called himself von Ahaus for the first time.[4] The lords of Ahaus belonged to the smaller noble dynasties in Westphalia in the wider environment of the Munster bishops. They got into a fight with them in 1176 when the nobleman Johann von Ahaus gave his castle as a fief to the Archbishop of Cologne. In 1177, however, John had to surrender to Prince Bishop Hermann II of Munstersubdue. The castles of Ahaus and Diepenheim, which belonged to the noble lords of Ahaus, were destroyed. Nevertheless, the noble lords remained in possession of their rule.[5]
In 1389 the noble lords of Ahaus granted the castle settlement an excise privilege. Two years later, Ahaus received city rights. In 1406, the Prince-Bishop of Munster, Otto IV von Hoya, bought the lordship of Ahaus and incorporated it into the Bishopric of Munster.[4] It was combined by the Bishopric of Münster together with 24 parishes, which extended over large parts of West Münsterland, to form the Amt of Ahaus . It lasted until it was dissolved by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss in 1803.
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