Castle of the Counts of Rochefort

The Castle of the Counts, Château Comtal de Rochefort, was an imperial fief in the Belgian town of Rochefort. At the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th century, the first lords, the Montaignus, had a fortress built on an enclosed hilltop, of which only the oldest walls and the keep remain. This castle would give its name to the hamlet that arose at the bottom of the fortress. Rochefort is derived from 'Rocha Fortis', fortified castle. This castle was successively home to numerous dynasties, which strengthened the fortress over time. Due to its strategic location, the castle was repeatedly besieged. The lords allowed themselves to be called Count of Rochefort and were vassals of the Count of Luxembourg for most of their land. In 1285, Thierry de Walcourt granted the charter to the burghers. He made the fast-growing city politically independent. The coat of arms of the Walcourt family also became that of Rochefort, henceforth a fortified city inhabited by citizens with privileges. Most of the houses were self-contained and had half-timbered walls. In the course of the 18th century, Jean-Ernest de Löwenstein, Bishop of Tournai and Prince-Abbot of the Abbey Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy, had the castle converted into a palace. Rochefort, capital of a powerful county, with a supreme court, a feudal court and an allodial court, had become an administrative and in some cases a judicial centre. In 1732, however, the castle and grounds passed to the Stolberg family after a decision by the imperial court. The scions of this family moved back to Germany with all their possessions when the inhabitants of Rochefort – as a sign of the times and with the support of the French occupying forces – rejected the seigneurial power.

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