New Castle of Ansembourg

The New Castle of Ansembourg was built in the seventeenth century by an ironmaster whose forges worked the valley, and enlarged in the eighteenth when the family rose. The house itself is private, but the gardens are open: terraces stepping up the slope with clipped hedges, statuary, fountains and a long avenue, laid out in the French manner and among the better formal gardens in the country. The old castle of Ansembourg stands ruined on the hill above.

History

In 1639 Thomas Bidart, an ironmaster from Liège and a pioneer of Luxembourg's iron industry, built the central part of the castle as a house within walls and towers, two of which still stand, and called it the Maison des Forges. The de Marchant family, who inherited it by marriage, transformed it, adding two wings to the courtyard in 1719 (Wikipedia, New Castle of Ansembourg).

Highlights

• The terraced gardens - formal planting stepping up the slope behind the house.
• The statuary and fountains - the ornament laid out through the terraces.
• The chateau facade - the seventeenth and eighteenth-century house from the garden.
• The old castle - the earlier ruin on the hill above the valley.

When to go

April to October is the garden season. The house is private and not open. Opening days for the garden are limited and should be checked.

What to expect

The house cannot be visited; only the gardens are open. Opening is seasonal and limited to certain days. Parking in the small village is difficult.

Nearby

Hollenfels is east, and Mersch is beyond it.

Key facts