Clervaux Castle

Clervaux Castle (Luxembourgish: Schlass Klierf, German: Schloss Clerf, French: Château de Clervaux) in the town of Clervaux in Northern Luxembourg dates back to the 12th century. Destroyed by the fire in the Second World War during the Battle of the Bulge, the castle has now been fully rebuilt. It houses the commune's administrative offices as well as a museum containing an exhibition of Edward Steichen's photographs.[1]

Clervaux Castle

Location

The castle stands at a height of 365 metres on a rocky spur above the town, surrounded on three sides by a loop in the River Clerve.[2]

History

The oldest parts of the castle from the 12th century were built by Gerard, Count of Sponheim, a brother of the Count of Vianden. The large palace and the rounded towers are probably from around 1400 when the prosperous Lords of Brandenbourg lived there.[3]

In 1634, Claude of Lannoy built the reception halls, including the large Knights' Hall in the Spanish style of Flanders. In 1660, stables, storerooms and administrative buildings were added. Finally, in the 18th century, new stables were built.[4]

Over the years, like other castles in Luxembourg, Clervaux fell into disrepair although it was partly restored and used as a hotel before it was finally destroyed in the Second World War during the Battle of Clervaux (December 16 to 18, 1944), part of the Battle of the Bulge.[1]

The castle today

After being fully restored after the war, the castle is now used partly as a museum and partly for housing the local administration.

The south wing houses an exhibition of models of Luxembourg's castles; the old kitchen in the Brandenbourg House. It is a museum devoted to the Battle of the Ardennes.

The upper floors house the permanent installation of the entire complement of 503 original and restored prints, the work of 273 photographers, from the exhibition The Family of Man, curated by Edward Steichen for The Museum of Modern Art in 1955 and which toured the world to be seen by 9 million visitors.[5] Luxembourg was where Edward Steichen was born in 1879, in Bivange. The exhibition was first presented in the Castle in 1994 after restoration of the prints.[6][7] The layout of the inaugural exhibition at MoMA is followed in order to recreate the original viewing experience, though necessarily adapted to the unique space of two floors of the restored Castle. Since further restoration of the photographs and displays in 2003 it now incorporates a library and contextualises The Family of Man with historical material and interpretation.[8]

The remaining rooms are used for the services of the local administration.[2]

Visiting times

The castle is open to visitors every day from 10 am to 6 pm except Mondays. It is closed in January and February.[3]

See also

References
  1. Evy Friedrich, "Luxembourg: Castles and fortified castles", Editions Guy Bindsfeld, Luxembourg, 1984. ISBN 3-88957-033-X.
  2. "Château fort de Clervaux" Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, Service des Sites et Monuments Nationaux. (in French) Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  3. "Château de Clervaux", Luxweb-Culture. (in French) Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  4. "Château de Clervaux", Le petit futé. (in French) Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  5. Steichen, Edward; Steichen, Edward, 1879–1973, (organizer.); Sandburg, Carl, 1878–1967, (writer of foreword.); Norman, Dorothy, 1905–1997, (writer of added text.); Lionni, Leo, 1910–1999, (book designer.); Mason, Jerry, (editor.); Stoller, Ezra, (photographer.); Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) (1955). The family of man : the photographic exhibition. Published for the Museum of Modern Art by Simon and Schuster in collaboration with the Maco Magazine Corporation.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  6. "Clervaux – cité de l'image". Clervaux – cité de l'image.
  7. Sandeen, Eric J (1995), Picturing an exhibition : the family of man and 1950s America (1st ed.), University of New Mexico Press, ISBN 978-0-8263-1558-8
  8. Anke Reitz (2018) 'Re-exhibiting The Family of Man: Luxembourg 2013', in Hurm, Gerd, 1958–, (editor.); Reitz, Anke, (editor.); Zamir, Shamoon, (editor.) (2018), The family of man revisited : photography in a global age, London I.B.Tauris, ISBN 978-1-78672-297-3

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