La Fontaine Castle

History

Mansfeld was appointed governor of Luxembourg in 1545 at age 28. His military success and interest in antiquity motivated the ambitious project. Construction began after he and his second wife, Marie de Montmorency, purchased the hermitage, Margaret's chapel, twenty houses, and additional land from Neumünster Abbey. The road from Neudorf to Clausen was interrupted and a new path built around the land.

Mansfeld also rented and closed off the old park of the Counts of Luxembourg, exchanging plots with Neumünster Abbey for those he had bought. In 1590, he began surrounding the area with a wall. The site provided views of the city and rocks and forests, and water from the River Alzette supplied gardens, baths, and fountains. The castle, with a façade about 200 metres long, was set back against rocks to maximize garden space.

Gardens were decorated with antique statues, many Roman works from Arlon. The estate included a hunting park with a 5 km perimeter enclosed by solid walls. The architect is unknown but appears to have been from the Netherlands, possibly an associate of Hans Vredeman de Vries, whose influence is evident.

Some sources suggest the castle was inspired by Château Fontaine in Forest near Brussels. A Venus fountain was built in the gardens: a rectangular pool with semi-circular apses, a Venus statue riding a whale in the center, surrounded by animal statues spraying water. A pergola was later built around the pool. The fountain or its remains have been under excavation since 2003.

Fall into ruin

The Infanta Isabella did not accept the debt-laden palace, so it began to decay and was destroyed during the 1684 siege by the French. Little remains. Descriptions by Jean Guillaume Wiltheim record its interior decoration. The castle appears on old city maps, and its size and appearance are mostly known from period paintings by Georg Braun (with Franz Hogenberg) and Joachim Laukens, showing a late Gothic style with Renaissance influences.