Château de Walferdange

Walferdange Castle (Château de Walferdange), located in the small town of Walferdange in central Luxembourg, dates from 1824 when William I of the Netherlands who was also Grand Duke of Luxembourg built it as a stud farm. It is now part of the University of Luxembourg.

William I built the castle as a stud farm for breeding horses between 1824 and 1828. His son, William II, converted it into a royal residence where he stayed when visiting Luxembourg. It was however his son Prince Henry and his wife Amalia who extended the castle and its gardens while they lived there from 1853. Prince Henry, who was governor of Luxembourg, was well liked, especially in Walferdange where he distributed gifts to the children each Christmas. After his death in 1879, the castle lay empty until Grand Duke Adolphe adopted it as his summer residence in 1905, completely refurbishing the castle and its park. During the 20th century, the castle was used successively as a hospital, a teacher training college, an army barracks for the American and then the Luxembourg army and a pedagocical institute before the University of Luxembourg opened its Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education there in 2003.