Berus Castle

Berus Castle, also known as Neus Schloss, is the remnant of a hilltop castle in Berus in the Saargau, a district of Überherrn in the Saarlouis district in Saarland.

Assumptions (among others by Cohausen) about a prehistoric or Roman fortification of the strategically located mountain spur, steeply sloping on three sides, remain hypothetical, as later construction has obliterated all traces.

In 1235, Berus was first mentioned in a document as "Bellus Ramus" (beautiful branch, beautiful mountain spur) and was a border fortress of the Dukes of Lorraine. The castle was therefore built at the latest at the beginning of the 13th century. It served to protect the surrounding Lorraine possessions and the Wallerfangen-Bolchen (French: Boulay) escort road. The fortified castle settlement must have been built immediately thereafter.

The castle was the seat of a noble family of the same name, v. Beres, which is traceable until 1433. Later, as a Lorraine fief, it was owned by the von Alben family, who called themselves von Alben, called Beris (later spelling Berris). From the 14th to the 17th century, several castle-dwelling families resided in Berus. Among them, the von Haraucourt family (from a place of the same name in today's Canton Château-Salins, Département Moselle) are worth mentioning, who are traceable in Berus until 1664. In the church of Berus, the tomb of a Johann von Haracourt († 1570) can be found.

At the end of the 16th century, the town and castle of Berus were refortified. Only structural remains from this period have been preserved. Of the actual castle or palace, only the gatehouse with its archway and keyhole embrasure has survived as standing masonry. The most remarkable remnant of the town fortifications is the Scharfeneck gatehouse with the Hattsteiner coat of arms.

In 1635, Berus was devastated in the Thirty Years' War. The castle was probably rebuilt afterwards, but later ceded its importance to the fortress of Saarlouis (founded 1680). When exactly the castle was finally abandoned is not known.