Bourscheid castle is situated on a isolated promontory, accessible only from the north-west, 150 meters above the level of the river Sure and 370 meters above sea level, Even today the ruins testify to an impressive fortification covering a surface of 12.000 square meters (151 meters long, 53 meters wide) and surrounded by a massive ring wall with 11 watchtowers.

   The center of the enclosure came into being around the year 1000 when a stone construction replaced an earlier wooden defense structure. Archeological excavations have yielded traces from Ottonian, Carolingian, Merovingian an even Roman times. At first the little square near the tower with its "palas" and chapel was surrounded by a circular wall with at least 4 towers. Only the tower and the circular wall subsist of this construction dating from the romanesque period. The manifold building ornaments in the form of fish-bones ("opus spicatum") are a characteristic of this part of the castle.

   Shortly after the year 1350 the construction of the extensive circular wall was started. It was finished in 1384, the same year in which the Stolzemburger house in the lower area of the castle was erected (notice the fine basement in gothic style). As the circular wall with its 8 towers now offered better protection to the core of the castle, the "Palas" in the upper area was built to a height of at least 10 meters, which correspond to 4 storeys. A bake-house was added on the top of a two-level dungeon hewn into the naked rock. The warden's house with its two towers formed the entrance to this castle.

   Behind the gateway, which was built only after 1477, a ditch protected by 4 towers barred the access to the upper an the lower castle. Truly a great fortification! The square in front of the exterior gate was protected by palisades. In this area stood the linden tree under which justice was said.

   The castle began to dilapidate after the year 1512 when the last member of the Bourscheid family had died. The upper castle was transformed into two dwellings arranged on both sides of the "palas". One was deserted by 1626 already, the other was never inhabited permanently. Yet around 1650 the chapel was enlarged so that it could boast of two altars. From that time onward only bailiffs lived in Bourscheid castle, more precisely in the Stolzemburger house, which was rearranged as a residence in 1785, since the "palas" and the chapel in the upper area were threatening to fall down.

   The invasion of Luxembourg by French revolutionary troops  in 1794 – 1795 put an end to feudalism. The Bourscheid archives were taken to Gemünden in the Hunsrück area of Germany in 1802, the last bailiff deserted the castle in 1803. In 1812 the last owner sold his whole property in Bourscheid and environs.

   Bourscheid castle now was in private hands for more than a century an a half. In 1972 the Luxembourgs State acquired the ruins, which had been declared a national historic monument in 1936. While some restoration work had been done since the 1930es, the Solzemburger house an de warden's house were reconstructed after 1972, while archeological excavations probed into the farther past of the castle. This restoration work has rendered Bourscheid castle accessible to visitors.

   The recent publication of the Bourscheid archives by the "Amis du Château de Bourscheid" substantially enlarges our knowledge of the castle and its former inhabitants.

Bibliography to buy in the castle-shop.