Koerich Castle

Koerich Castle lies in the village with the same name, in Luxembourg. It is situated in the valley of the Eisch stream, which is also known as the Valley of the 7 Castles. The other 6 castles are; Septfontaines, Ansembourg, New Ansembourg, Hollenfels, Schoenfels and Mersch.

Koerich Castle was first mentioned in 1259. It was probably built at the beginning of the 13th century by Wirich I, Lord of Koerich and Seneschal of Luxembourg in late Romanesque style. In 1304 the castle expanded by Godefroid of Koerich.

The square castle was originally circled by a moat and had a drawbridge. The keep, with its 3 meters thick walls, which is now some 11 meters high was originally between 25 and 30 meters high.

From 1380, Gilles of Autel and Koerich converted the stronghold into a more comfortable residence by building two square towers at either end of the south wall. The southwestern tower housed a chapel on the ground floor.

In 1580, the new owner Jacques II de Raville (or Jakob von Rollingen in German) made further changes, demolishing part of the property and adding two Renaissance wings. The south wing was again altered in 1728 by Lothar-Friedrich von Rollingen, this time with baroque additions.

In the beginning of the 19th century the castle was used as a farm but because of lack of maintenance it was abandoned and fell to ruin. In the 1950s the castle ruin became state owned.

At present Koerich Castle is a nice ruin in a friendly and quiet village. Because of extensive repair works, however, the ruin was not accessible when I visited. So, I'll have to go back in the future.

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