The Schwack restoration on the Efing estate
Beginnings in the 16th century
One of the sights in the north-west of Bocholt is undoubtedly the Efing manor house dating from 1570.
The stone coat of arms plaque on the south side of the two-storey house with its mansard roof and protruding octagonal tower confirms that it was built by the married couple Johan von Remmen and Helwig von Tenckinck, whose names are first documented in a judge's record in 1572.
Ownership and use changed several times over the following centuries.
Alcohol-free pub?
On 18 April 1905, the estate manager and farmer Johann Schwack applied to the city of Bocholt for a licence to sell and serve coffee, milk and non-alcoholic drinks on the Efing estate. The city council approved his application.
He then had the gardens renovated and a bridge built over the moat. He subsequently tried several times in vain to obtain an extended licence to serve wine, beer and liqueur or cognac and to sell bottled beer.
According to the proprietor Schwack, the pub was very popular on both Sundays and weekdays. It was frequented "by high society", for example by members of the Männergesangverein Sängerbund 1885 Bocholt and the Eintracht society.
However, it was always criticised that neither beer nor wine was available on the estate. He eventually renovated the property and furnished it with new garden furniture, installed electric bells in every room and connected a telephone with the number 84 in May 1905.
Schwack went to great lengths to obtain a licence to serve alcoholic beverages and even had the road from Dinxperloer Chaussee to the Efing estate repaired at his own expense, which the town council also welcomed in the interests of the general public.
Desire for alcohol
Johann Schwack (1878-1962) had leased the property from the owners Wilhelm Geuting and his brother from Spork for ten years until 1915 and had the right of first refusal.
In his last application for a licence, he even submitted a list of signatures from well-known Bocholt personalities to the city council, including those of the doctor Dr Eckervogt, the publisher Amandus Temming, the private secretary van Delft and the chairman of the Centre, August Hendrix, who supported his application.
This time, the applicant was successful and - contrary to the recommendation of police inspector Korn - was granted a liquor licence on 28 May 1907.