Havré Castle

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Havré Castle, view from the southwest

The Havré Castle ( French Château d'Havré ) is a castle in the village of Havré the Belgian town of Mons in the Walloon province of Hainaut . It has been attacked, besieged and damaged or destroyed several times in its history . Because it was subsequently rebuilt again and again, the current structure dates from the 14th to 17th centuries. The owners of the complex included the Enghien, Harcourt and Croÿ families . When the castle was largely rebuilt at the end of the 16th / beginning of the 17th century and adapted to the tastes of the time, it received its present form. The buildings, which have been listed since 1936, and the palace gardens are open to visitors from February to November.

history

Already for the year 1140 a rule "Haverech" has been handed down, which Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut gave in that year to his adviser and comrade Isaac, lord of the castle of Mons . At that time there was already a fortification at the current location , but it is unknown what it looked like, as no remains of this first installation have been preserved. Isaac's descendant Ida von Mons married Engelbert dʼEnghien around 1225 and brought him the castle at that time . It was badly damaged in an attack by Flemish soldiers in 1395, but the lords of the castle had it rebuilt in a modified form and gave it the floor plan that is still visible today. Gérard dʼEnghien left the complex to his nephew Christophe dʼHarcourt on April 28, 1423, who in 1425 saw the Brabant troops devastating his castle. On his death he was inherited by his brother Jean, who in turn left the property to his niece Marie dʼHarcourt. When she married Jean dʼOrléans in March 1439 , Havré brought her to his family.

Charles-Alexandre de Croÿ built today's castle

In 1518 the castle was exchanged for Philippe II de Croÿ , one of the generals of Emperor Charles V and, from 1537, his Grand Bailli and governor of the county of Hainaut. He married on August 9, 1548 his second wife Anna of Lorraine (1522-1568), a daughter of Lorraine Duke Anton II. , And died before the birth of his son Charles-Philippe, whom he inherited the estate. Wounded by a musket shot at the Battle of Montcour , Charles-Philippe was killed by Ambroise Paré , King Charles IX's first surgeon . Treated at Havré Castle. He survived the wounding and, together with his second wife Diane de Dammartin, converted the complex into a palace in the Renaissance style . This had to withstand two more sieges in 1578. At first Don Juan de Austria camped with 6,000 soldiers in front of Havré, but withdrew without having achieved anything, and the castle remained undamaged. However, the Duke of Anjou was more successful on July 23 of the same year: He was able to take the facility after it had previously been badly damaged by artillery fire . A fire in the summer damaged the facility again very badly, so that Charles-Philippe's son, Charles-Alexandre de Croÿ, had to undertake extensive repairs to the family property. The work carried out between 1590 and 1610 resulted in an almost complete new building, where today's palace complex was created. Charles-Alexandre received illustrious guests from art and politics, such as Anthony van Dyck , Peter Paul Rubens , Maria von Medici , the Spanish Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia and Eugene of Savoy . Because Charles-Alexandre did not leave a male heir when he died, the castle passed to his daughter Marie-Claire from his first marriage to Yolande de Ligne. According to the will of her father, she married a relative on October 13, 1627: Charles Philippe de Croÿ. For him, Havré was raised to duchy in 1627. After his death, Marie-Claire entered into a second marriage in 1643 with his stepbrother Philippe-François de Croÿ.

Havré Castle on a postcard from 1902

When French revolutionary troops occupied the area of ​​Havré after the victory at Jemappes , the last Duke of Havré, Joseph Anne de Croÿ , emigrated . His castle was confiscated and sold as national property in 1792, although Joseph Anne bought it back for the family in 1807. Because he left no children behind when he died in 1839, the castle had been abandoned and practically unused since that year. During the First World War , the German army used the facility as a warehouse, later it served as an English prison. In 1924, Edmont Puissant acquired the already dilapidated castle with the intention of saving it from total ruin. But he had to give up this plan and in 1927 transferred the buildings to the province of Hainaut. In 1930 part of the castle collapsed because the subsoil had sunk due to mining work. Further partial collapses followed, only the corner towers and part of the lodging remained intact . A protection of the complex as a monument in 1936 brought no improvement, the buildings deteriorated and were gradually overgrown by plants.

In 1979, some residents founded the association Les Amis du Château des Ducs dʼHavré ( German  The Joy of the Castle of the Dukes of Havré ) with the aim of preserving the castle from further deterioration and through restoration . Since then, the castle island has been cleared of rampant vegetation, the access bridge has been made usable again, the remains of the gate structure have been restored, collapsed walls have been rebuilt and various interior spaces have been repaired. From 2005 to 2006, the northern part of the Logis received a new roof, so that the located there and armory ( French salle d'armes ) called Hall is available again. The Enghien Tower ( French tour dʼEnghien ) now houses a library from the estate of the historian Emile Poumon.

description

Floor plan of the castle in the 1920s

The castle stands on an almost trapezoidal island, which is surrounded by a very wide, almost pond-like moat . Its shape with the four corner towers is still strongly reminiscent of a fortified, medieval fort castle . Sandstone blocks and bricks were used for the buildings .

The Concièrgerie , a brick-built house on the Rue du château, provides access to the palace area . It was built in the 17th century, but almost completely rebuilt in the 19th century. Its central part with the arched gate passage has two short, slightly lower side wings. From there a straight path leads north to the castle island, which can be accessed via a long, stone arch bridge . It ends at the remains of the former gateway on the south side. Of its two semicircular flanking towers , only the ground floors with their barrel vaults are left. Since the end of the 18th century there has been a two-winged lattice gate in the Louis-seize style , which gives access to the castle courtyard.

The castle today consists of four corner towers and the remains of the logis, which takes up the entire east side of the island. On the other three sides, the towers were previously connected by curtains , but these are no longer preserved. The Enghien tower at the southeast corner has an octagonal shape, the other three corner towers have a square floor plan. The ground floor and the first two upper floors of the Enghien Tower date from the 14th century. The smaller, fourth floor and the slate-covered hood with onion-shaped attachment and weather vane were added in 1603. The tower stands on a high, octagonal foundation that is much wider than the storeys on top of it. This suggests that the base is older than the superstructures.

The two western corner towers made of brick with corner blocks date from the second half of the 16th century. The three-storey tower on the northwest corner is called the guest tower ( French tour des hôtes ) because guests were received and entertained there in the Middle Ages. Its walls are around 2.5 meters thick, so that there is enough space for a spiral staircase in the wall thickness . The southwest corner tower is lower than its northern counterpart because it has been missing the top floor since the 17th century. It is called the guard tower ( French tour des gardes ) and has a ribbed vault on the ground floor , the keystones of which show the coat of arms of the Enghien family. Weapons and armor, as well as furniture from the 16th and 17th centuries, from the estate of Edmont Puissant, can be seen on the upper floor.

The former two-story, Renaissance-era residential building of the complex stands on the east side over the entire length of the castle island. It consisted of two parts that were of different lengths and heights. Its masonry was made of bricks that were faced with sandstone blocks. The southern part is called the wing of Anna of Lorraine ( French aile Anne de Lorraine ) and is a ruin . It should be made usable for cultural purposes in the future. In the northern part, on the ground floor, is the so-called Waffensaal , a restored ballroom that can be rented for events. In the middle of the logis is the Gothic castle chapel from the 15th century. However, it is not the first sacred building of the complex, but had a predecessor, because a chapel for Havré is guaranteed as early as 1370 . The two-storey building is dedicated to St. John and protrudes with its three-sided apse into the moat. Its upper floor is in ruins while the ground floor has been restored. Inside, the ground floor is covered by a ribbed vault, the bluestone ribs of which rest on consoles made of light sandstone. Its keystones show the coats of arms of the Enghien and Croÿ families.

The logis is flanked by the eastern corner towers of the complex. The northern one is called the kitchen tower ( French tour des cuisines ). Its brick masonry used to be clad on the outside with sandstone blocks. Its ground floor has a ribbed vault with keystones showing the Enghien coat of arms. Its upper floors can be reached through an attached stair tower with a spiral staircase. A small annex on the courtyard side used to be used as a bakery .

South and southwest of the Castle Island is a 6,000-square-foot garden area, which among other things about 100 different varieties of roses were planted. There are around 3,500 rose plants in total. There used to be a farm yard from the first half of the 17th century, but it is no longer preserved. It disappeared in the 19th century.

  • West side

  • South side

  • The Conciergerie

  • Part of the garden

literature

  • O. Berckmans: Havré. In: Luc-Francis Genicot (ed.): Le grand livre des châteaux de Belgique. Volume 1: Châteaux forts et châteaux fermes. Vokaer, Brussels 1975, pp. 140-141.
  • M. Devallée: Le château d'Havré. In: Annales des Travaux Publics de Belgique. 2nd row, vol. 74, volume 22, 1st delivery. Brussels 1921, pp. 117–128.
  • Léopold Devillers: Pieces concernant la prize du château d'Havré. In: Annales du Cercle archéologique de Mons. Volume 10. Dequesne-Masquillier, Mons 1871, pp. 332-350 ( digitized version ).
  • M. Henrion: Le château d'Havré (I). In: Demeures Historiques et Jardins. No. 174, June 2012, ISSN  1780-8723 , pp. 27-30.
  • M. Henrion: Le château d'Havré (II). In: Demeures Historiques et Jardins. No. 175, September 2012, ISSN  1780-8723 , pp. 8-11.
  • G. Lemaigre: Châteaux disparus. Château d'Havré. In: Maisons d'hier et d'aujourd'hui. No. 28, December 1975, ISSN  1780-8723 , pp. 58-61.
  • Constant Pirlot (ed.): Province de Hainaut, Arrondissement de Mons (= Le patrimoine monumental de la Belgique. Volume 4). 2nd Edition. Mardaga, Lüttich 1975, pp. 177-178 ( digitized version ).
  • Edmont Puissant: Report sur le château d'Havré. In: Bulletin des Commissions royales d'Art et d'Archéologie. Volume 63. Vromant & Co., Brussels 1921, pp. 293-306 ( PDF ; 43.3 MB).

Web links

Commons : Havré Castle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g O. Berckmans: Havré. 1975, p. 140.
  2. ↑ a b c d history on the castle website , accessed November 15, 2016.
  3. ↑ a b Les de Croÿ, duc d'Havré , accessed November 15, 2016.
  4. ↑ a b c C. Pirlot: Province de Hainaut, Arrondissement de Mons. 1975, p. 177.
  5. ↑ Restaurations et projets à venir , accessed on November 15, 2016.
  6. ↑ Information on the restoration work on the castle website , accessed on November 15, 2016.
  7. ↑ a b O. Berckmans: Havré. 1975, p. 141.
  8. ↑ a b c d e f g h Information about the buildings and the garden on the castle website , accessed on November 16, 2016.

Coordinates: 50 ° 27 '52.1 "  N , 4 ° 2' 21.1"  E