Betzdorf Castle ( lb, Schlass Betzder; french: Château de Betzdorf; german: Schloss Betzdorf) is a castle in the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

of Betzdorf, in eastern

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. It is located north-west of Betzdorf village, to the north of the

CFL Line 30 Line 30 is a Luxembourgian railway line connecting Luxembourg City to Wasserbillig, where it runs on the Trier West Railway, connecting to Trier in western Germany. The terminus at the western end is Luxembourg railway station. It is designated ...

railway line. The castle is the headquarters of SES S.A., the world's largest satellite operator in terms of revenue and the largest component of

Luxembourg Stock Exchange The Luxembourg Stock Exchange, LuxSE (french: Bourse de Luxembourg) is based in Luxembourg City at 35A boulevard Joseph II. The chairman of the board is Alain Kinsch and the chief executive officer is Julie Becker. The exchange has pre-opening ...

's main

LuxX Index The LuxX Price is the main stock market index of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, the stock exchange based in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. The LuxX is a weighted index of the nine most valuable listed stocks by free floated market capital ...

. Since its acquisition by SES, the company has built a large commercial and industrial centre on the castle estate. It should not be confused with Berg Castle, located in nearby

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer) (born 1989), Brazilian footballer Former states * Berg (state), county and duchy of the Hol ...

, which serves as the communal headquarters for Betzdorf.

History

The castle was the home of Hereditary Grand Duke Jean from the time of his marriage to Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium, on 9 April 1953, until 16 November 1964, when he succeeded to the

Grand Duchy A grand duchy is a country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess. Relatively rare until the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the term was often used in th ...

upon

Grand Duchess Charlotte Charlotte (Charlotte Adelgonde Elisabeth Marie Wilhelmine; 23 January 1896 – 9 July 1985) reigned as Grand Duchess of Luxembourg from 14 January 1919 until her abdication on 12 November 1964. She acceded to the throne on 14 January 1919 foll ...

's resignation. All of Jean and Joséphine-Charlotte's children were born at Betzdorf Castle: * Princess Marie-Astrid (born 17 February 1954) *

Grand Duke Henri Henri (french: Henri Albert Gabriel Félix Marie Guillaume, ; born 16 April 1955) is the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He has reigned since 7 October 2000. Henri, the eldest son of Grand Duke Jean and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium, is a f ...

(born 16 April 1955) * Prince Jean and Princess Margaretha (twins born 15 May 1957) * Prince Guillaume (born 1 May 1963) After it was vacated by the new Grand Duke's family, the castle became a nursing home, which it remained until 1982. In July of that year, the castle served as a base camp for 3,000

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, secti ...

s celebrating the 75th anniversary of the movement's foundation. Afterwards, it was left empty until SES bought the castle in 1986 and began extensive development work to make it the company's headquarters. According to SES, the castle was ideal as it was remote enough that it would be free of interference for their satellite ground station, Betzdorf Satellite Control Facility, which became operational in July 1987, albeit without a satellite.

Footnotes

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Castles in Luxembourg {{Luxembourg-struct-stub

History

See also

Footnotes