Birtrange Castle (

Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. The language is standardized and officiall ...

: ''Schlass Biertreng''; French: ''Château de Birtrange'') is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

near

Schieren Schieren () is a commune and town in central Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Diekirch. Schieren is served by a railway station, and the commune encompasses the hamlet of Birtrange, which contains Birtrange castle. Schieren was formed o ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. The castle was constructed in the 13th century by Gaspard-Florent de Breiderbach, and built in an English Gothic style. It was acquired in 1813 by the De Blochhausen family, who held the castle until 1935, when it came to be under the control of the De Broqueville family. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

American troops were stationed inside of the building. Inscriptions and graffiti made by these soldiers can still be seen on the castle walls. The castle was abandoned in 2002. After the death of Baroness Claudine de Broqueville the castle was donated to the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

. The Baroness wished for a music festival to be organized on the property following her death. In honor of this wish, the Red Cross organized a 3 day long festival hosting 2500 people from August 2-August 4, 2019. There were numerous objections to this event based on potential

environmental damage Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

. According to Carole Dieschbourg, the

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of a ...

, there were not sufficient criteria to forbid the festival. Sam Tanson, the Minister of Culture, and Dieschbourg stated that they would not permit any damage to the site. Guards were sent to the castle to monitor the festival. Numerous bins were placed on the site and chemical products were prohibited. The music was also limited to ensure potential damage to the building was limited. If any damage occurred, the organizers would be held responsible. In 2022, the Red Cross expressed a desire to auction off the castle due to its poor condition and high maintenance costs, the proceeds of which would be reinvested by the Red Cross into other efforts. The Red Cross held an auction, and the minimum bid was 5.2 million

euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

. Luxembourgish entrepreneur Jos Bourg bought the home, and he began renovation work on the castle. The Department of National Sites and Monuments in Luxembourg assisted the renovation work.

References

{{coord, 49.8264, 6.0891, type:landmark_region:LU, display=title Castles in Luxembourg Ruined castles in Luxembourg