# Brandenbourg Castle

- **Country:** Luxembourg
- **Coordinates:** 49.911667, 6.137778
- **Location Text:** Brandenbourg

Brandenbourg Castle stands as a prominent ruin on a promontory roughly 70 meters above the village of Brandenbourg in north-eastern Luxembourg. Strategically positioned high above the crossroads connecting the River Sûre to the Ardennes and the route between Bourscheid and Vianden, the site encompasses a main castle and a lower courtyard measuring 35 by 95 meters. While archaeological evidence indicates the presence of a wooden fort on this location as early as the 9th and 10th centuries, the first stone structures, including the current keep, date back to the 13th century. The remaining keep originally featured four floors but now stands at 11.9 meters with only three levels intact.

The fortress underwent significant expansion during the 15th and 16th centuries under the ownership of the House of Salm, which added a chapel, bailey, two towers, vaulted cellars, and curtain walls. Despite these enhancements, the castle was abandoned by the mid-18th century and left to decay. Its decline accelerated around 1687 when French forces destroyed the external walls. Throughout the 20th century, specifically in 1936, the 1950s, and continuously since the 1980s, the State of Luxembourg has performed consolidation work and archaeological excavations. These efforts are conducted under an emphyteutic lease agreement signed in 1997 with the current owners, the du Fays - van Delft family.

Today, Brandenbourg Castle serves as a historical landmark open to the public daily from 9 am to 5 pm, though it remains closed during the winter months from November to March. Visitors can explore the ruins that testify to nearly a millennium of military and domestic history in the region. Ongoing archaeological projects continue to uncover further details about the site's evolution from a simple wooden outpost to a substantial stone fortress, preserving its legacy within the Ardennes landscape.

![Photo of Brandenbourg Castle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Brandenbourg.jpg)

**Source:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenbourg_Castle (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)