Beaufort Castle

The castle began as a small square fortress set on a large rock above the valley floor, ringed by a moat and a second wall. Its beginnings are dated to the 11th century by some accounts; others put the core building in the late 12th century, because the earliest document naming a lord of Beaufort is a reference of 1192 to Wauthier de Wiltz et Beaufort. A keep was added during the first half of the 12th century, when the gate was also moved and enlarged.

The rock cone carried the original work about 23 metres above the valley bottom, and the buildings were extended down the slope over time. Both a Romanesque and a Gothic building phase leave clear traces in the inner courtyard.

The lords of Beaufort died out in the male line during the 14th century, and in 1348 the property passed to the House of Orley when Adelaide of Beaufort married William of Orley. The Orleys built substantial extensions overlooking the valley.

Their descendant Johann von Orley-Beaufort was charged with a breach of faith towards his liege lord, and in 1477 Maximilian of Austria confiscated castle and lordship and granted them in fief to Johann Beyer von Boppard. In 1539 Bernard von Velbrück became lord of Beaufort through marriage and raised the large wing with cross-framed windows on top of the medieval walls.

Beaufort next came to Gaspard de Heu, who had married Velbrück's granddaughter. In the Dutch struggle against Spain de Heu took the side of the House of Orange and of Maurice of Orange, was captured by the Spaniards, accused of heresy and treason, found guilty, and publicly executed in Luxembourg's fish market in 1593. Philip II of Spain confiscated the property and entrusted it to Peter Ernst Graf von Mansfeld, the governor of Luxembourg.

Marriage carried the castle on to Henri de Chalon and then to Gaspard du Bost-Moulin, who was ruined by the Thirty Years' War and had to sell; by the late 1630s the lordship was so heavily indebted that a sale could not be avoided. On 27 November 1639 Johann Baron von Beck, governor of Luxembourg, bought most of the estate on behalf of the Spanish king, with all its "hauteurs, juridictions, noms droits et actions" and every appurtenance and dependency of the lordship. Beck began a new residence in 1643, set some 15 metres above the medieval castle, but died of injuries from the Battle of Lens in 1648; his son Georg completed the building in 1649.

Ownership changed repeatedly in the 18th century, passing to Pierre de Coumont in 1774 and to Jean Théodore Baron de Tornaco-Vervoy in 1781. The medieval castle was no longer lived in, was abandoned and fell into disrepair, and at the beginning of the 19th century it was worked as a quarry. The State listed it as a national monument in 1850.

In 1893 the new owner Henri Even restored the later residence, and from 1928 Edmond Linckels cleared the rubble out of the medieval castle and opened it to visitors for the first time. The State acquired the property in 1981, and the estate, pairing the medieval ruin with the 17th-century residence, is open to visitors. On 30-31 July 2021 a large part of the retaining wall below the ruin collapsed; no one was hurt.