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Origin and history

The Hof is an 18th-century French castle located in Thionville, Moselle department. Built on the site of an older house, it was completed in 1756 for the Count of Touraille, friend of Voltaire. The ironworks of the dependency body bear the date of 1750, suggesting earlier preparatory work. The building, classically arranged between courtyard and garden, consists of a house on one floor covered with slate, flanked by small side pavilions and outbuildings on the raised ground floor.

The castle once housed a chapel, now extinct. At the beginning of the 20th century, then owned by Mayor Berkenheier, he underwent restorations: the side pavilions, which had a floor in 1913, were modified, and the original staircase, located in the present hall (attested by a plan of 1906), was replaced by a modern cage employing wrought iron balustrades of the 18th century. The dining room and four bedrooms on the first floor still retain their period panel.

The facades, roofs, two upstairs bedrooms and gates with their gates were listed as historical monuments by order of 14 December 1992. The site, located at 2 rue Saint-Urbain in Guentrange (a former integrated village in Thionville), bears witness to the aristocratic architecture of Lorrain under the Ancien Régime, mixing classical elegance and preserved decorative elements, such as the sundial and the well of outbuildings.

The Count of La Touraille, who sponsored the sites, maintained ties with Voltaire, illustrating the influence of the Enlightenment in local aristocratic circles. Subsequent transformations, especially at the beginning of the twentieth century, reflect the adaptations of the building to modern uses, while maintaining traces of its history, such as dated ironworks or interior decorations. Today, the Hof remains a remarkable example of the Lorraine heritage, combining architectural history and local memory.

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