Raeren Castle is a moated castle in the Belgian city of the same name, Raeren, near the German border. It is also called "Lower Castle" because it is assumed that there was a "Upper Castle" in Raeren's corridor
Château de Raeren History
Raeren Castle was built in the mid-14th century at the confluence of Iter and Periolbach on the site of a former foundry.
Over the centuries, Raeren Castle has often changed owners, either by inheritance or by sale. Since 1959 it has been partially owned by the municipality of Raeren. In 1963 the Museum of Ceramics opened for the first time, located in the main building of the castle.
The castle was a fiefdom of the chamber of the man in charge of the Marienstift of Aachen. The first known owner of the "zen Roideren" house and farm in the Walhorn parish was Johan van den Roideren (d.1426). At that time the castle consisted of a two-storey residential tower, a so-called "keep" with an almost square plan. Next to it was a building with kitchens, separated by a square. The farm buildings were located in their present location. The courtyard was accessed from the north-east. The entire property was surrounded by two moats and several ponds.
Towards the end of the 16th century the separate kitchen was destroyed by a fire. In 1583 the current owner, Philipp de Lomont, almost doubled the size of the building. He had part of the moat filled with debris from the surrounding pottery and built an extension on the site of the former kitchen building. The date of this renovation is engraved above the present entrance and on a stone in the surrounding wall of the moat.
In the 18th century the castle had fallen into disrepair. The former owner, the lawyer Peter Joseph de Nys, rebuilt it in a romantic style. He built a dam with today's entrance coming from the "Burgstraße" and a remise. He was also responsible for the Gothic single-lancet windows and the balcony that adorn the north wall of the castle and he raised the north-west tower to its current height, thus creating a circular tower room on each floor. To this day, the entrance portal displays the coat of arms of "De Nys-Von der Gracht".
Since 1963, the Raeren Pottery Museum has been located in the historic Raeren Castle, which was built in the 14th century. Already in the first years of its opening it caused a sensation in the national and international professional world, being the first museum to present a complete overview of the history of Raeren stoneware. To this day, the Raeren Pottery Museum is the only institution in the world to provide such an overview.