House Bilkrath (German: Haus Bilkrath, Old German: Hof Pilkrath) is a medieval fortified house on the Anger in the Düsseldorf district of Angermund, just a few hundred meters south of Heltorf Castle.

History Bilkrath appears as early as 1332 as PelichradHeinrich Kelleter: Stift Kaiserswerth, in: Urkundenbücher der geistlichen Stiftungen des Niederrheins, Bd. 1, Bonn 1904, S. 225 (Urkunde 164).,1402 as PeylcheroydeHeinrich Ferber: Die Calkumschen Fehden mit der Stadt Köln, in: Düsseldorfer Jahrbuch, Bd. 8, Düsseldorf 1894, S. 61. and 1407 as Peillichrade.Dittmaier: Bergisches Land. The suffix -rath, -royde or -rade indicates that the house was built on cleared land. The name stem is traced back to the personal name Billig.Henning Kaufmann: Grundfragen der Namenkunde, Band 3, C. Winter, 1965, S. 44.Henning Kaufmann: Genetivische Ortsnamen, 1961, S. 100.

The 1402 source shows that the lords of Kalkum were the owners of Bilkrath towards the end of the 14th century. For example, Johann von Caelchem von Peylcheroyde, who was executed by the city of Cologne a long time ago in 1402 and whose execution was one of the triggers of the Kalkum feuds, is mentioned. Prior to this, Johann's (great) grandfather Hermann von Kalkum, bailiff of Angermund, is said to have had his residence in Bilkrath as early as 1312.Schmitz (1979), S. 191.Siehe auch Karl Heck (Bearb.): Geschichte von Angermund, 1. Teil, Duisburg 1906, S. 18. Heck nennt Johann von Kalkum einen „Enkel“ von Hermann von Kalkum, Ritter zu Pilkrath und Amtmann zu Angermund. Auch Volmert (1971), S. 57 spricht von „Enkel“.

In the first half of the 15th century, Gerhard van der Brüggen, judge in Angermund, was the Duke's master chef and married Steyngen vom Angeren, Lord of Pilckrath. In 1443, the estate was then owned by the knight Wilhelm von Landsberg gt. Eggerscheidt and his son-in-law Dietrich von Aschenberg,Volmert (1971), S. 57. who may have sold the estate to the knight Ailff Quade, bailiff of Angermund. The former moated castle was subsequently owned by the Quadt family for many years.

In 1559, Bilkrath was surveyed by Hermann Brinck, a citizen of Uerdingen. The entire estate comprised 156 acres of land. The main field was in the large field near the farm. Other lands were located on Kalkstraße, Kirchweg, next to Kalkumer Kirchland and Dickenbusch.Schmitz (1979), S. 192. Volmert (1971), S. 57 spricht von 160 Morgen.

In 1596, Konrad Quadt sold the estate for 5,000 köllnisch thalers (settled at 52 albus köllnisch each) to Wilhelm von Scheid called Weschpfennig zu Heltorf, count palatine and bailiff of the Solingen, Burg, and the Beyenburg office.Archiv Heltdorf, P 1 Since this time, Bilkrath has had the same owners as Heltorf, i.e. after the Lords of Scheidt called Weschpfennig until today the Lords/Counts of Spee.Wilhelm Avenarius: Düsseldorf und Bergisches Land: Landschaft, Geschichte, Volkstum, Kultur, Kunst, Glock und Lutz, 1982, S. 248.

In the last centuries, Bilkrath was leased out except for short periods in between. In 1631 the farm was leased to a Theis (Matthias).LAV NRW, Abt. Rheinland, Steuermatrikel der Düsseldorfer Kreuzbrüder (1631), Akte 27 I.

In 1766, Bilkrath went to Johann Peter Thielen for twelve years, and in 1778 to Heligerus Huntgeburth and Maria Katharina Schmitz, also for 12 years. In 1791, the lease was extended for the couple for a further 12 years. The Huntgeburth descendants ran the farm until 1932, after which the Klünter family lived on the farm.Schmitz (1979), S. 194. Since 2006, the Köppel family has been running a riding stable in Bilkrath with 30 horse boxes, two outdoor riding arenas and an indoor exercise arena.Angaben zur Hofanlage auf der Webseite des Reiterhofs Köppel.

The house has been protected as a listed building since 1 October 1990.

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