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Origin and history

Gendersberg Castle, located in Hanviller, Moselle, has its origins in the 15th century with a first feudal castle, mentioned in 1577 but destroyed before 1661. This original castle belonged to the bastard knights of Deux-Ponts from 1445 to 1547, before being sold to Count Jacques de Bitche, then integrated into the seigneury of Bitche. In 1620, the Duke Henry II of Lorraine handed him over to Louis de Carelle, commander of Bitche.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the fief passed into the hands of Stein's Sires and Gentersberg's Diethmar. The present castle was rebuilt in the second quarter of the 18th century, in 1723, for Jean Frédéric Dithmar, replacement and receiver of the Duke of Lorraine's finances in Bitche County. Anobli in 1723, Dithmar, also master of the forges of Mouterhouse, built this castle and that of Schmittviller in 1726. The coat of arms of the Dithmar and La Lance de Moranville still adorn the frontons of the building.

The castle remained in the Dithmar family until the French Revolution, before passing to the Counts of Gudin, who owned it until 1877. The building, with elongated plan with forebody at the ends, has maintained facades and roofs inscribed in historical monuments since 27 June 1984. Today, he presents himself as an isolated farm, having lost some of his agricultural buildings and his French garden, visible on ancient planes.

The Gendersberg site is also marked by an evolutionary toponymy, reflecting its history: Gentersberg (1445), Guntersberg (18th century), or Gendersberg (1755). These variations illustrate the linguistic and administrative changes in the region, linked to Bitche County and Moselle Department.

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