Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Courtmoulin, located in Sainte-Barbe-sur-Gaillon in the Eure, is an emblematic monument of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its construction extends over these two periods, while its chapel, decorated with 16th century stained glass windows illustrating the life of the Virgin, dates back to an earlier era. This estate, which served as a gazebo at the Château de Gaillon, was the property of prominent personalities such as the diplomat M. Tripet, involved in the case of Jeufosse in 1857, then General François Antoine Teste and Count Frédéric Pillet-Will, who enlarged it in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

During World War II, the castle became a strategic place: German Marshal Erwin Rommel installed his headquarters there, and Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler made a discreet stop there. These events give the site a major historical dimension, linked to the conflicts of the twentieth century. The seigneurial chapel, with its rectangular plan and its classified stained glass windows, is a remarkable architectural element, while the ground floor of the castle preserves glazed rooms.

Listed as historic monuments since 2006, the Château de Courtmoulin combines architectural heritage and collective memory. Its successive transformations, from building additions to interior modifications, reflect the evolution of its uses, from aristocratic residence to its temporary military role. Today, there remains a testimony of the social and political dynamics that have crossed Normandy.

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