Waldenburg House

50.65898 6.048799Coordinates: 50 ° 39 ′ 32 " N , 6 ° 2 ′ 56" E

Waldenburg House

The Waldenburghaus , also called Waldenburgshaus and locally called Waldeburgshaus , formerly Merols Castle , is a moated castle in the Belgian village of Kettenis . The castle owes its name to the von Waldenburg family, who appeared as owners in 1661.

history

Side view of the Waldenburghaus

The Waldenburghaus and the neighboring Philippenhaus (formerly Hof Merols ) emerged from the Stocklehen and Schloss Merols (formerly: Hooghuys von Merols ), a fief of the Aachen Marienstift . Since 1589 a distinction has been made between the Merols Hof (later Hagenhaus , now Philippenhaus ) and Merols Castle (now Waldenburghaus ).

The court was first mentioned in a mortgage lending letter from 1266. After the first known owners, Johann Prys (Parys von Rabotraeth; † 1397), Johann von Fronggartz and Hereditary Marshal Carsillis von Eupen, in 1476 the court came into the possession of the Aachen mayor Johann Bertolf von Belven , who also owned Libermé Castle and the Belven Estate. With only a short break between 1560 and 1589, the castle remained with the Bertolf von Belven family until 1626, before the Junker Heinrich von dem Hove (van dem Hove) took it over. After his death, his wife Barbara, nee Schyul, married Lieutenant Laurenz de Meuth, whose daughter inherited the farm and sold it to Colonel Andre von Waldenburg in 1661. He had the house completely rebuilt and expanded and new farm buildings erected, as shown by the number and coat of arms stones. The castle largely got its present appearance.

Until 1776 the von Waldenburgs owned what is now called the Waldenburghaus. Then the brothers Nikolaus Johann and Peter Franz von Hodiamont took over the Waldenburghaus, who completely renovated the castle again and created a magnificent garden with fruit trees and vines as well as avenue-like walking paths and cleared the ponds. Via the daughter of Peter Franz, Sophie Lambertine von Hodiamont, married to Wilhelm Anton Johann Joseph de Résimont von Schloss Bempt , the property passed to the Résimont family, who owned it until 1918. It was then sold to a certain Julius Keller and in 1920 to the von Cortenbach family. In 1966, the industrialist and racing driver from Stolberg, as well as the Chilean consul Kurt Adolff, took over the Waldenburghaus, which was badly damaged by a devastating fire in 1975. The large were Salon mounted the castle stucco allegories of the seasons and elements of the plasterer Petrus Nicolaas Gagini from 1805 irrevocably destroyed. They were then exposed to the elements in the fire ruin for over a year and then ended up in a private collection.

In 1977 Alfons Knauf from Aachen acquired the castle ruins and had them rebuilt in the style of the 18th century. The Magis family has been the owner of the castle since 1983, and it is once again making a remarkable impression.

The complex has been a listed building since 2013.

description

The Waldenburghaus today consists of the manor house from the 17th / 18th centuries. Century with a rectangular floor plan and the three-wing, U-shaped farm yard, which is composed of the two residential wings and various stables. The courtyard dates from 1699 and has largely been preserved in its original form including the historical building fabric. Both building complexes, together with the quarry stone bridge connecting them , the walls of the moat , the drawbridge with the bluestone pillars, form an architectural unit.

The two-storey, seven-axis mansion made of field firebrick sits on a stepped rubble stone base with square openings. It closes at the top with a hipped gable roof made of interlocking tiles with slip-ons . The outside staircase on the front south side, protected by a wrought iron railing, and the Louis XVI- style windows on the rear north side facing the elevated street, give the manor an imposing impression. After the fire of 1975 the side facades were completely restored, whereas the former neo-Gothic chapel extension on the east side of the manor house was no longer built.

Portal farm building

The front area of the three-winged farmyard is characterized by a round arched, slightly protruding quarry stone portal with a triangular gable and a hipped gable roof. To the right of the portal is a building with stables, which in earlier times served as a wagon shed.

The wing of the courtyard, attached to the northwest, consists of a two-storey three-axle quarry stone house with a gable roof. The entrance area is on the courtyard side and is highlighted by a broad, round-arched lintel , which is closed off by a heavy, trapezoidal keystone with a coat of arms and a crown. In the extension of the residential part, stables are built, which were probably enlarged and changed to the northeast in the 19th century.

The north-eastern wing initially consists of four stables, of which the two with walled-up round openings were openings for car entrances at the time of construction. This is followed by two stables from the 19th century with additions from the 20th century. One of these stables has a round-arched wagon door, the wedge of which bears the coat of arms of the Résimont family and the year 1886.

Gravestele Ernst Ferdinand Franssen von Cortenbach

The southeast wing consists primarily of stables, which were also changed in the 19th century and enlarged in the 20th century. the adjoining two-storey, three-axle residential wing has its entrance area with a small staircase in the middle of the courtyard facade. The year 1669 and the coat of arms of the von Waldenburg family are engraved in the trapezoidal wedge in the arched door lintel. However, the window openings with their arched walls date from the 18th century, as does the adjoining portal wing with its round arch doubled with small rubble stones. At the end of the wing wing there is a wagon shed in the same construction as in the opposite wing.

The outdoor facilities, consisting of a moat with wall surrounds and access bridge, pond and park with sculpture platforms and stone bridge with pillars and iron grating round off the entire visual property. In the northern garden area a grave stele commemorates the former owner Ernst Ferdinand Franssen von Cortenbach.

literature

Guy Poswick: Les Délices du Limbourg. Self-published, Verviers 1951, pp. 343-348 ( digitized version ).
Bernhard Heeren: Kettenis - A home book. Markus-Verlag Eupen, Eupen 1977, pp. 20-22.

Web links

Commons : Waldenburghaus (Eupen Kettenis) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Waldenburg Castle on trois-frontieres.be, accessed on March 24, 2014
detailed description on dgkulturerbe.be

Individual evidence

^ Paul Clemen , Heribert Reiners : The art monuments of the districts of Aachen and Eupen (= The art monuments of the Rhine province . Volume 9, section 2). Schwann, Düsseldorf 1912, p. 150.
↑ Marcel Bauer, Frank Hovens, Anke Kappler, Belinda Petri, Christine Vogt, Anke Volkmer: On the way on Couvens tracks . Grenzecho-Verlag, Eupen, ISBN 90-5433-187-9 , pp. 152 .

[1] Paul Clemen , Heribert Reiners : The art monuments of the districts of Aachen and Eupen (= The art monuments of the Rhine province . Volume 9, section 2). Schwann, Düsseldorf 1912, p. 150.

[2] Marcel Bauer, Frank Hovens, Anke Kappler, Belinda Petri, Christine Vogt, Anke Volkmer: On the way on Couvens tracks . Grenzecho-Verlag, Eupen, ISBN 90-5433-187-9 , pp. 152 .