Castles of "Belgium" PRINSENKASTEEL vs CHAUMONT-GISTOUX

Prinsenkasteel (literally "Princes Castle") was a castle located in Grimbergen, Belgium. It was the residence of the lords of Grimbergen from the 14th Century onwards. The castle ruins are located in Prinsenbos Park ("Princes wood"). Around the beginning of the 14th century, soon after the destruction of the Berthout family's stronghold in Borgtberg during the Grimbergen war, the lords moved their home to the current castle, then called Boksem. Their fortress was again destroyed during sieges in 1488 and 1489 respectively led by Maximilian I, then regent of the Burgundian Netherlands, and Albert III, Duke of Saxony. Only parts of the keep seem to date back to this period. From 1901 to 1933, Premonstratensians from the abbey of Sainte-Anne de Bonlieu-sur-Roubion, expelled from France following the expulsion of religious congregations, were welcomed in the castle. During the Second World War the castle was occupied by German soldiers. They set it on fire during their retreat in 1944. The castle ruins were bought by the municipality of Grimbergen in 1947. In 1978, the municipality also acquired the annex building, now called the Guldendal, which was formerly used as a stable, a carriage house and service building.

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Chaumont-Gistoux (Walloon: Tchåmont-Djistou) is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On 1 January 2006 Chaumont-Gistoux had a total population of 10,926. The total area is 48.09 km2 which gives a population density of 227 inhabitants per km2. It was formed from the fusion, in 1977, of Dion-Valmont (itself a fusion in 1971 of Dion-le-Val and Dion-le-Mont), Bonlez, Corroy-le-Grand, Longueville and Chaumont-Gistoux. The administrative offices are now in the village of Gistoux. It is a semi-rural municipality with several working farms, large areas given over to fields and forests, although there is a major industry of sand extraction, now mostly in decline. Due to this history there are now several haulage and construction firms based in the municipality. Chaumont-Gistoux is on the KW-line, a defensive line erected early in the Second World War, intended to prevent invasion from Germany. A small museum houses information about the line and many exhibits from the war. Her Royal Highness Princess Claire of Belgium grew up in Chaumont-Gistoux. The Coombs family still resides there to this day, and the Princess, her husband Prince Laurent and their children are often seen in the municipality.

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