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Origin and history

The castral site of Lorentzen, located in the Bas-Rhin in Alsace, is a medieval architectural complex marked by several periods of construction and transformation. Built between 1328 and 1334 by Count Friedrich II of Sarrewerden, this plain castle surrounded by water (Wasserburg) adopts a square plot flanked by five round towers, three of which remain today. In 1335, the count gave up half of the castle and the dependent villages to the archbishop of Treves. The site, passed to Nassau-Sarrebruck in 1683, became a customs residence after the death of Count Ludwig Crato around 1713, then Countess Sophie around 1768, who undertook baroque works there, as evidenced by the oak staircase.

The French Revolution marked a turning point: the castle, sold as a national property in 1792, was divided into housing lots. A fire in 1847 partially damaged the buildings. The site preserves medieval defensive elements (snave nests, remains of drawbridge) and Renaissance additions, such as the 16th century stair turret. The wheat mill, dated 1728 and active until 1958, illustrates the economic adaptation of the estate, while the tidal barn of 1770 recalls the seigneurial system of the tithe.

The ensemble, inscribed in historical monuments since 1990, also includes remarkable spaces such as the Knights' Hall, the room of the Widows (black woodworks), and vaulted kitchens of the fourteenth century. The facades, roofs, and interior elements (monstrous staircases, ground ceilings) are protected. The mill, with its wooden blades and its canal fed by the river Eichel, as well as the barn with curved doors, complete this multi-series testimony of Alsatian history, between feudal power, agricultural life and modern transformations.

Dependencies, such as the 1808 house, reflect post-revolutionary divisions. The seigneurial weapons carved on the lintels and the engraved dates (1726, 1787, 1804) recall the successive phases of occupation and development. Today, the site, located in the Place du Château in Lorentzen, offers a rare example of continuous architectural evolution, from medieval origins to 19th century adaptations, in a rural setting of the Vosges du Nord.

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