Loppem Castle () is a

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

situated in Loppem in the municipality of

Zedelgem Zedelgem (; ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of Aartrijke, Loppem, Veldegem and Zedelgem proper. On January 1, 2019, Zedelgem had a total population of 22,813. The tota ...

, near

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

West Flanders West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemis ...

, in the

Flemish Region The Flemish Region (, ), usually simply referred to as Flanders ( ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—alongside the Wallonia, Walloon Region and the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region. ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Unusually, it preserves its original architecture and interior decoration. The castle has a richly decorated and furnished interior, and houses a collection of works of art (paintings, stained glass, statuary). It is surrounded by a romantic park with ponds and a maze, which has itself been designated a protected heritage landscape. The castle and park are now owned by the ''Stichting Jean van Caloen'' ("Jean van Caloen Foundation") and have been open to the public since 1975.

History

The castle was built between 1859 and 1862 for Baron

Charles van Caloen Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

and his family, to designs by architects

E.W. Pugin Edward Welby Pugin (11 March 1834 – 5 June 1875) was an English architect, the eldest son of architect Augustus Pugin, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Louisa Barton. His father was an architect in the Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic R ...

and Jean-Baptiste Bethune. It is considered a masterpiece of

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

. In late 1917, during the

German Occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

, the castle was requisitioned for the use of a German general and his staff. After the German withdrawal, the castle served as the residence of

Albert I of Belgium Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. He is popularly referred to as the Knight King (, ) or Soldier King (, ) in Belgium in reference to his role during World War I ...

from 24 October until 25 November 1918. It was the site of a number of political meetings held by the King which became known as the Loppem Agreements. PM 161788 B Loppem.jpg, Entrance hall PM 161785 B Loppem.jpg, Stairs PM 161816 B Loppem.jpg, ''Adoration of the Magi'' (16th c.) Onbekend - Guido Gezelle (1830-1899) Kasteel van Loppem 20-07-2021.jpg, ''

Guido Gezelle Guido Pieter Theodorus Josephus Gezelle (1 May 1830 – 27 November 1899) was an influential writer and poet and a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium. He is famous for the use of the West Flemish dialect, but he also wrote in other languages ...

'' by Gustave Léonard de Jonghe PM 161813 B Loppem.jpg, ''Elephant'' by Cécile Kruyfhooft

Notes

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Loppem Castles in West Flanders Museums in West Flanders Historic house museums in Belgium Gothic Revival architecture in Belgium 1862 establishments in Belgium

History

See also

Notes

External links