Schengen Castle

The castle in Schengen dates back to a moated castle from the 13th century. The industrialist Jean-Nicolas Collart had most of it demolished in 1812 and built the present-day castle. Of the original moated castle, only one of the four massive round towers remains.

Victor Hugo was an important guest at the castle. In 1871, he lived with his family in Altwies and also travelled to Schengen. He was so impressed by the old castle tower that he immediately made a sketch.* The lady of the castle, Mrs Collart, liked the picture so much that she provided him with the tower as a motif for the drawing. Hugo then made a second drawing, which can still be seen in the MNHA today.

*The local anecdote says that Victor Hugo travelled to the Moselle village because he had heard about the beauty of Madame Collart, the lady of the castle at the time. During a coffee break, he spilt on his notepad. He then painted over the stain with the tower and the castle. The lady of the castle is said to have joked that if she received the drawing as a gift, she would sign the building over to him, including the inventory.