Castles of "Belgium" D'URSEL CASTLE vs WESTMALLE CASTLE

D'Ursel Castle (Dutch: Kasteel van Hingene, also known as the Kasteel d'Ursel) used to be the private summer residence of the Duke of Ursel in Hingene in the municipality of Bornem, province of Antwerp, Belgium. Today it is property of the State, and opened to the public. The first resident was Diederik van de Werve (1519-1598), his descendants sold it to Conrad III Schetz in 1608. The estate became the summer residence of the House of Ursel. The Dukes of Ursel and their family resided for 350 years on the estate. Its original view can be seen in the Flandria Illustrata. A famous resident was Conrard-Albert, first Duke of Ursel (1665-1738). His son, Charles, 2nd Duke d'Ursel asked Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni (1695-1766) to redesign the family estate. The front was made symmetric like a palace. The duke received important noblemen here, such as Johan von Sinzendorf und Pottendorf (1739-1813) and Joseph de Ferraris. During the 18th century the castle was known for banquets and balls. Marriages in the family were celebrated by the whole village, the dukes usually being well regarded locally. On 10 augusti 1876 the Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Saxony visited the castle and the town of Hignene. In 1894 Prince Albert and his brother in law, the Prince of Hohenzollern visited the castle. Around 1960 the castle was sold by Henri, 8th Duke d'Ursel, the furniture, family archives and contents of the library were removed from the castle. The House of Ursel left the town, and chose to reside henceforth in Brussels. In 1994 the province of Antwerp obtained ownership and restored the estate to its 17th century state. The current Duke of Ursel gave an important part of private ducal Collection in private loan (Commodate), to be put on exhibition in the rooms of the estate.

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Westmalle Castle (Dutch: Kasteel Westmalle) is located in the village of Westmalle, which is part of the municipality of Malle in the Campine region of Flanders, Belgium. Westmalle Castle is situated at an elevation of 29 meters. The origin of Westmalle Castle goes back to a large fortified farm, the Mansus de Trisco (Dutch: Hoeve Ten Driessche) around 1100 and it stayed that way until 1449. The farm was the residence of the representatives of the Dukes of Brabant. In 1449 the estate was sold by the Duke of Brabant to Henri van der Moelen, who was a member of the city council of Antwerp. In 1505, his son, the knight Hendrik van der Moelen, obtained all feudal rights from Philip I of Castile. His son Peter van der Moelen succeeded him and it was his grandson, Evrard de Cottereau, who obtained the estate in 1530. The estate passed to the De Cottereau family by marriage, and it was Evrard de Cottereau who built the present castle in 1561. In 1695 the last of the Cottereaus was deeply indebted to his creditor, Pierre Farisau, and later to his heir Filips Robijns. In 1702 the castle was claimed by the creditors, but the courts returned the property to lady Moytray, the widow of de Cottereau. In 1738, her brother inherited the castle and sold it to the heirs of Filips Robijns who sold it again to Jacques Benoit Pauwens (Powis) in 1743, whose family resided in the castle until 1847. In 1829, Baron de Norman restored the castle. His children sold it to the Bovie family from Antwerp. Between 1848 and 1874 the castle was owned by an Antwerp diamond-dealer, Lord Bovie. He altered and restored the castle, and a garden was created by the landscape architect Koelich. From 1874 until 1878, the castle belonged to Louis Geelhand. Baron de Turck de Kersbeeck bought it in 1878, restored the building and parts were rebuilt by the architect Schadde. Since 1914 the castle has been owned by the van der Straten Waillet family.

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