Ter Ham Castle

In the 8th century there was already a Frankish settlement or fortified homestead, called villa of "the ham", on the forecourt of the current castle. (Ham: bend in a watercourse that creates an island by meandering) She was built in wood and had as her only protection the canals that surrounded her. Gradually, the buildings were replaced by stone structures with ring wall to protect the population from possible attacks.
On the same forecourt, a first "Stone" was built in the 12th century. Today there are still four towers that recall this period: the first is to the right of the entrance gate, the second is incorporated into the former porter's house and the last two are built into the former rear façade of the stables and are now connected by a gallery.
Around 1500 this first castle was demolished by order of Filip Hinckaert. He had it replaced by the castle we know today.
Over the years, the castle ended up in different hands. The last lord of the castle, Jean de Croix, leased the castle from 1929 to the most illustrious family from our regions, the Habsburgs. Empress Zita and her entourage stayed there until 1940.
As the spire of the St. Rumoldus church had to believe during the war years 40-45, the huge gable roof with the conical roofs on the towers, together with part of the upper floor, was also demolished during that period. There was also a lot of damage done by the German soldiers who had taken up residence there. The formerly imposing building had lost much of its charm and stood abandoned.

In 1957 the castle was sold by the de Croix family to the municipality of Steenokkerzeel. He intended to convert it into a town hall and to convert the surrounding grounds into a walking park. However, this turned out to be financially unfeasible, so the land was parceled out and the castle was leased to the foundation "Europahuis van België".
On April 24, 1964, it was purchased by the then Ministry of National Education and Culture. Since 1970 it has served as a conference centre for leisure activities.

BrideyW