Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Autigny finds its origins in a strong house built around 1600 by Jean Blaise de Mauléon, captain of the guards of Duke Charles III of Lorraine. The latter, bailli de Toul and sénéchal du Barrois, received the fief d'Autigny in dowry via his wife Antoinette du Châtelet. The seigneury remained in the Mauléon family until 1711, when it passed to the Counts of Kinigh, then in 1742 to Count Antoine de Gondrecourt, who erected the present castle in 1748 in a Louis XV style. Stanislas Leszczynski, Duke of Lorraine, raised Autigny to county rank in 1757.

During the French Revolution, the castle was sold as a national property in 1793 and acquired by Jean-Claude Cherrier, first sub-prefect of Neufchâteau. In the 19th century, it passed into the hands of the Panichot and Ponlevoy families. In 1918, during World War I, it housed the Royal Air Force headquarters, even hosting a visit by future King George VI. The company lounge, adorned with a panoramic wallpaper from the early 19th century, is classified as a historical monument in 1991, just like the entire estate.

Architecturally, the castle preserves the Renaissance gate and towers of the original strong house, integrated into a cobbled courtyard and a park of two hectares. The latter includes a double-revolution staircase, a nymphée inspired by Gerbéviller, and garden factories such as a cooler or a water room evoking the Canopia of the Hadrien villa. The interior, partially visitable, reveals 18th century decorations, including woodwork, a faience stove from Toul, and portraits of royal figures like Louis XV or Marie Leszczynska.

Mauléon's family, the first owner, marked the history of the place with strategic alliances, such as that of Jean-Blaise de Mauléon with Antoinette du Châtelet. Later, the Count of Gondrecourt radically transformed the home, while Aimé Marie Gaspard de Clermont-Tonnerre, Minister of War and Lieutenant General, spent his childhood there. These historical strata, from the Lorraine ducale to revolutionary France, make the castle a symbol of the political and artistic changes of the region.

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