Car Friday 2022 wmit BMW Club SaarLorLux (en translation) -

On “Car Friday 2022”, the BMW Club SaarLorLux took a trip to the “Chateau Beaufort” in Luxembourg, with lots of fun for the whole family.

The ruins of Beaufort Castle are in the commune of Beaufort in Luxembourg. It is about 5 km west of the town center and about 35 meters lower in a valley floor. The castle originally stood about 23 m above the valley floor on a rocky cone, but over time it has been expanded extensively down the valley.

The castle was built in 1192 and has been owned by the State of Luxembourg since 1981.

The history of Beaufort’s origins is somewhat confused. It was first mentioned in a document as Lord of Beaufort Wauthier de Wiltz et Beaufort in 1192. That is why the construction of the main castle is dated to the late 12th century. The construction of the castle can roughly be divided into two sections. The differences are particularly visible in the inner courtyard of the castle, where clear traces of a Romanesque and a Gothic construction phase are visible.

When the Lords of Beaufort died out in the male line in the 14th century, the complex came to her husband Wilhelm von Orley via Adelheid von Beaufort in 1348. His descendant Johann was accused of disloyalty to his sovereign, so that Emperor Maximilian I confiscated the castle and lordship of Beaufort and gave it to someone else as a fief.

Through marriage in the 16th century, the property finally came to Bernard von Velbrück, through whose granddaughter it fell to Gaspard de Heu. In the Dutch fight for their independence from Spain, de Heu supported Moritz von Orange and was taken prisoner by the Spanish. Accused and found guilty of breach of faith and heresy, he was publicly executed in 1593. King Philip II of Spain confiscated Beaufort Castle and enfeoffed Count Peter Ernst I of Mansfeld with it.

The 17th century castle

At the end of the 1630s, the Beaufort manor was so indebted due to the Thirty Years’ War that it had to be sold. On November 27, 1639, the governor of the province of Luxembourg Johann von Beck (French: Jean de Beck) acquired it with all its “hauteurs, juridictions, noms droits et actions, biens censes et revenus et Grallem et toutes ses appartenances et dépendances”. He eventually built a Renaissance-style castle 15 meters above the present ruins to use as his new residence. However, the lord of the castle did not live to see the completion of the new building, as it was only after Johann’s death by his son Georg.

Since the castle was no longer used for residential purposes, it fell into disrepair over the centuries that followed. It was not until 1928 that better times began again for the facility, which had meanwhile become a ruin, with the owner Edmond Linckels. Linckels had the rubble removed from the castle and made it accessible to visitors for the first time.

On 30./31. July 2021, a large part of the retaining wall below the castle ruins collapsed. There were no injuries.