A little bit of history

The site was already inhabited 4000 years ago, signs of this habitation are still visible today, notably a hole carved into the rock.

Renaud of Waimes had the castle built in 1354 at the request of the Duke of Luxembourg, solicitor of the Stavelot Abbey.

Other buildings had been constructed before, during the reign of Charlemagne (VII century) and in Roman times.

The Lords of Waimes and their descendants continually enlarged their estate over 460 years during which time they preserved it. The French revolution and the sequestration that followed put this exceptional handing down of the property to and end. Due to the fear that the French would return, after the retrieval of their property, subsequent to the fall of Napoleon, the Counts of Metternich, descendants of Renaus of Waimes abandoned their estate in Warch in favour of other and numerous properties in Germany an Bohemia.

 

History proved them wrong, the hasty decision to sell was a mistake because in 1815 our region became part of the native country of the Lords once more. The Prussian Kingdom then became the German empire.

The damage was already done. The buildings were being demolished surrounded by wood and land sold off in pieces. The fortress was left to scroungers, abandoned at the mercy of the frost, severe weather conditions and cold winters in a region situated at an altitude of 500 metres.

It was nothing but a ruin when a protector of places of cultural and historical interest came out of nowhere. Jean Overloop succeeded in the feat to reconstruct, in just a few years, starting in 1969, the castle, which had previously faded away.
A rebirth of the castle was witnessed in the second half of the XX century. The castle was refurbished by this tireless collector and opened to the public in the seventies.

The castle is still inhabited despite the death of its re-constuctor in 1994. Reinhardstein invites you to come and uncover its secrets.