Carolinaberg Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Carolinaberg Castle stands in Stokkem (Dilsen-Stokkem, Belgian Limburg), on the Steenkuilstraat, in a park that contains the remains of the burcht (fortress) of the counts of Looz. Built in the eleventh century to protect the young county against the neighbouring principalities of Jülich and Guelders, the stronghold witnessed the War of the Looz Succession (1336–1366), then the struggles between the de La Marck family and the prince-bishops of Liège, Louis de Bourbon and John of Hornes; Erard de La Marck made it one of his residences. Destroyed and rebuilt several times, it was razed in 1702 by the bombardment of Dutch troops during the War of the Spanish Succession, and then demolished in the eighteenth century. In 1878, F. Caïmo, commissioner of the arrondissement of Tongeren, had the present castle erected on the site in memory of his late wife, Carolina de la Brassinne, whose first name it bears. The remains of the fortress in the park have been protected as a monument since 17 June 2004.