Castle of Ronse

It was built in 1630 by John VIII, Count of Nassau-Siegen to serve as the ‘ancestral castle’ of the catholic branch of the House of Nassau.

[1] When prince Philip William passed away, he was granted his former properties: the Nassau palace in Brussels, the seigniories of Grimbergen, Zichem and Diest, and the barony of Breda.

[1][2] Love for building was strong in the family, his protestant brother John Maurice constructed the Mauritshuis in The Hague, Sonnenburg castle in Brandenburg, and the Prinsenhof in Kleve.

[1] The castle was constructed of red brick with natural stone elements such as windows, arcades, profiled moldings, and corner blocks.

The arrangement of the rooms was almost symmetrical, with two large apartments in the corners and the main public spaces, the entrance gate, and the chapel, on the central axis.

[2] After the Battle of Fleurus on 26 June 1794, the barony was abolished, and the castle was put up for sale after centuries of being owned by the illustrious families of Nassau-Siegen and Merode.

In 1844, notary Charles Alexander Snoeck was appointed to divide the assets of the van Hove heirs, and the 20-hectare estate was subdivided.

Thus, the 17th-century barrel vaults in the basement with one-meter-thick whitewashed brick walls and door openings with sandstone casings were preserved.