Beusdael Castle

Beusdael Castle, locally known as Kasteel Beusdael, is situated west of the village of Sippenaeken, in the province of Liège in the Wallonia region in Belgium, just a short distance south of the Dutch border. The castle is also known as Beusdal or Beusdaal Castle.

The first Lords of Beusdael appear in the 14th century. This Van Beusdaal family seems to have been powerful lords as they could raise properties to fiefs; as they did with the Dutch castles of Geusselt and Goedenraad. Several marriages and heritages make the property of the castle transfer from the Van Beusdaal family to the Van Eys, De Colyn, De Hoensbroeck, De Méan and De Copis families until the 19th century. Then it became owned by Count Florent d'Oultremont.

From 1882 on he orders major alterations to the castle; building a chapel, a small round tower on the courtyard, a gate building with a new bridge. These works were carried out by the Brussels architect Janlet. When the count dies, the castle is sold in 1921 to a Wilhelm Huyzer. He did something macabre; he had his deceased, young wife embalmed and laid out in a coffin with a glass lid in a cellar, beneath a hallway next to the chapel. The coffin stayed there until 1934.

The castle had several other owners until it was bought by the Antoine family in 1976.

According to legend the keep of Beusdael Castle would date back to the times of Charlemagne. More probable is a building date somewhere in the 13th century. Its walls are up to 2 meters thick. There are 4 little corner turrets at the top. One of them was used as a prison (shackles and chains were still present in 1930) and in another there is a spiral staircase. The other square tower and the residential wing date back to the 16th and 17th century. The interior of the castle suffered heavily from military occupation between 1940-1945.

As the castle is private property and lived in, it is not accessible.

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