Ouren Castle

Ouren Castle
Location within Belgium
General information
Type	hillside castle, settlement
Classification	Ruins
Location	Ouren
Coordinates	50°8′N 6°8′E / 50.133°N 6.133°E / 50.133; 6.133Coordinates: 50°8′N 6°8′E / 50.133°N 6.133°E / 50.133; 6.133
Completed	11/12th century
Owner	Gentry

Ouren Castle is a castle ruin in Ouren in the East Cantons of Belgium. It was the ancestral seat of the lineage of the free nobles of Ouren.

Dating back to the 11th century the site was originally a segmented, fortificated castle fortress with a palas, a bergfried and a chapel in the higher-located northern part of the castle hill. The outer bailey with the service buildings were situated in the southern area.

During the Late Middle Ages the castle has lost his fortificated character gradually in favour of the living comfort of its noble inhabitants. Between 1535 and 1615, periods of modification are marking the change to the residence of the nobility. A re-drawing of the lost water colour by Joseph-Ernest Buschmann (1814-1853) from the mid-19th century shows the site as a – probably romanticized – Baroque castle. After its demolishment by French Revolutionary troops in 1794 the castle became uninhabitable and was nearly fully demolished after 1845.

The castle ruin is located in the southern part of East Belgium, close to the borders of Luxembourg. The castle plateau is situated on a shale rock which is protruding by an off-set into the valley of the river Our. To the North, West and East the castle hill is surrounded by the river Our. Through a slight depression in the South the access to the castle plateau is attained. Mostly timbered ridges of mountains of the East Ardennes are extending on both sides of the stream course on altitudes of approximately 400 to 539 meters above level Ostend (m O.P.).

The exact moment of the foundation of the castle is unknown. The lineage of the noble free lords of Ouren is already documented from the 11th century. The castle as such is mentioned in a deed from the end of the 12th century (1190-1198) in which Henry of Sponheim enfeoffed his part of the castle from the archbishop of Treves John I.

After the extinction of the male hereditary line, the castle and the sovereignty became subject to the House of Malberg. During the last decade of the 14th century the castle was pledged to the archbishop of Treves, Werner of Falkenstein. In consequence, the castle was besieged in 1394 and occupied during a feud between the archbishop and the Lords of Aremberg by Eberhard of the Mark and his son John. However, the soldiers of the archbishop succeeded in the reconquest of the castle only within the same year.