Schoenfels Castle with a history dating back to the 12th century, is one of the castles belonging to the Valley of the Seven Castles

Valley of the Seven Castles

'Valley of the Seven Castles' is an informal name given to the Eisch valley, in central Luxembourg. The valley stretches from the confluence with the Alzette upstream to Steinfort, on the border with Belgium. The entire route can be traversed in about an hour by car, starting near the town of...

 in central Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

. Located in the village of Schoenfels

Schoenfels

Schoenfels is a village in the commune of Mersch, in central Luxembourg. , the village has a population of 208. It is the location of Junction 3 of the A7 motorway, which goes from Luxembourg City to Clervaux....

 in the Mamer Valley between Kopstal

Kopstal

Kopstal is a commune and a small town in central Luxembourg. The towns of Kopstal and Bridel belong to this commune. Kopstal is a small town, with a population of 644 , located in a valley between forested hills situated beneath Bridel....

 and Mersch

Mersch

Mersch is a commune and town in central Luxembourg, capital of the canton of Mersch. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Alzette, Mamer and Eisch., the town of Mersch, which lies in the centre of the commune, has a population of 3,345...

, it now belongs to the State of Luxembourg.

History

The castle appears to have been built by Friedrich of Schonevels in 1292. Through marriage, it subsequently belonged to the families of Ansembourg and Sanem. In the 16th century, Henri Schloeder of Lachen became the owner and the Lord of Schoenfels and Busbach. His arms are to found on the keep. In 1683, the French destroyed the castle's defences and in 1690 the castle and the village were burnt down after a dispute between Theodor von Neunheuser and the Lord of Brandenbourg. In 1759, Pierre-François de Gaillot de Genouillac became Lord of Schoenfels after marrying Marie-Catherine de Neunheuser. In 1813, his son, François-Romain de Gaillot, sold the castle to Jean-Baptiste Thorn-Suttor, governor of the Province of Luxembourg during the Belgian period (1831-1839). The Belgian senator Jacques Engler bought the castle in 1840 and left it to his son-in-law Baron Auguste Goethals who built a residence beside the keep. In 1948, the Luxembourgish industrialist Camillle Weiss bought the property but sold it in 1971 to the Luxembourg State. The new residence was demolished in 1976.

The castle today

On completing its current restoration of the keep, the State intends to open a visitor centre for the Mamer Valley Nature Reserve and offices for the Forestry Administration. In the meantime, the castle is not open to the public.