Walferdange Castle (french: Château de Walferdange), located in the small town of

Walferdange Walferdange ( lb, Walfer ; german: Walferdingen) is a commune and small town in central Luxembourg. Geography The commune of Walferdange is located north of Luxembourg City in the valley of the Alzette. It is part of the canton Luxembourg. The ...

in central

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, dates from 1824, when

William I of the Netherlands William I (Willem Frederik, Prince of Orange-Nassau; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was a Prince of Orange, the King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He was the son of the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, who we ...

, who was also

Grand Duke of Luxembourg The Grand Duke of Luxembourg ( lb, Groussherzog vu Lëtzebuerg, french: Grand-duc de Luxembourg, german: Großherzog von Luxemburg) is the monarchical head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815, when it w ...

, built it as a

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation o ...

. It was a part of the

University of Luxembourg The University of Luxembourg ( French: ''Université du Luxembourg''; German: ''Universität Luxemburg''; Luxembourgish: ''Universitéit Lëtzebuerg'') is a public research university in Luxembourg. History The University of Luxembourg was foun ...

"A castle became a university"
''University of Luxembourg'' Retrieved 29 March 2011. and since 2015 has been used by the Ministry of National Education, Childhood and Youth (Luxembourg).

History

William I built the castle as a stud farm for breeding horses between 1824 and 1828. His son, William II, converted it into a royal residence where he stayed when visiting Luxembourg. It was, however, his son

Prince Henry Prince Henry (or Prince Harry) may refer to: People *Henry the Young King (1155–1183), son of Henry II of England, who was crowned king but predeceased his father *Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal (1394–1460) *Henry, Duke of Cornwall (Ja ...

and his wife Amalia who extended the castle and its gardens while they lived there from 1853. Prince Henry, who was governor of Luxembourg, was well liked, especially in Walferdange, where he distributed gifts to the children each Christmas. After his death in 1879, the castle lay empty until

Grand Duke Adolphe Adolphe (Adolf Wilhelm August Karl Friedrich; 24 July 1817 – 17 November 1905) was Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 23 November 1890 to his death on 17 November 1905. The first grand duke from the House of Nassau-Weilburg, he succeeded King Willia ...

adopted it as his summer residence until his death in 1905, completely refurbishing the castle and its park. During the 20th century, the castle was used successively as a hospital, a teacher training college, an army barracks for the American and then the Luxembourg army and a pedagogical institute, before the University of Luxembourg opened its Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education there in 2003."Walferdange"
''pt.lu''. Retrieved 28 March 2011.

Castle as campuses of the University

In 2003, the castle was transformed to serve as one of the campuses of the University of Luxembourg that housed the Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education.

The castle today

Since 2015, the castle has been used by the Ministry of National Education, Childhood and Youth to house some of its departments.

References

Castles in Luxembourg Walferdange University of Luxembourg Royal residences in Luxembourg {{Luxembourg-struct-stub

History

Castle as campuses of the University

The castle today

See also

References