| 1694 | The prince bishop of Münster Friedrich Christian von Plettenberg buys a moated castle on the site and the property of the Morrien family. |
| 13.06.1703 | The prince bishop lays the foundation stone for the present baroque palace. |
| 1708 - 1734 | The moated castle is torn down and the present palace is built by the master builders Pictorius and Schlaun (Schlaun alone is responsible after 1723) |
| 1715 - 1719 | During a grave illness Ferdinand von Plettenberg vows to build a new church should he recover. The new church with its organ and tabernacle is built by Pictorius. |
| 1727 | The orangery, the pheasantry and the sexton’s house (today the Schlaun Café) are built. |
| 1734 | The gardens are finally finished. |
| 1833 | Maria von Plettenberg marries the Hungarian count Nikolaus-Maria Franz von Esterhazy-Galantha. |
| 1834 | The north baroque garden is turned into an English landscape garden by Maximilian Friedrich Weyhe. |
| 1866 | Count Nikolaus Esterhazy begins breeding thoroughbred horses. |
| 1897 | Count Nikolaus Esterhazy, the last member of this branch of the family, dies. |
| 1903 | Countess Paula von Esterhazy sells the complete Nordkirchen complex (palace, poorhouse and hospital) to Duke Engelbert of Arenberg. |
| 1906 | The north and west gardens are partly restored by the French landscape architect Achille Duchene. |
| 1911 | The Prince Heinrich car race. Prince Heinrich, the Emperor’s brother, visits Nordkirchen. |
| 1913 | Reconstruction. The agricultural buildings are torn down. |
| 1914 - 1918 | World War I |
| 1922 | The palace is used as a holiday home for postal workers. |
| 1933 | The palace becomes a school for the leaders of the NSDAP. |
| 1941 - 1945 | World War II, no real damage is done to the palace. |
| 1949 | The state of NRW rents the palace from the Duke of Arenberg and promises to do the necessary restoration work. |
| 1958 | The state buys the palace for 3.5 million Deutschmarks. |
| 1975 | The last Duke of Arenberg dies. |