Beautiful view of Wijnendale Castle - Torhout

View of Wijnendale moated castle and its donjon or main tower.

In 1085 the Flemish Count Robrecht de Fries built a wooden fort there. Guy van Dampierre , known from the Battle of the Golden Spurs , turned it into stone . Then came times of glory and decline. Only three towers of the drawbridge survived the demolition ordered by Napoleon .

In 1833, the Mathieu family of bankers from Brussels bought the forest and the ruins of the castle and had the present castle built. On the morning of May 25, 1940 , there was a dramatic argument between Leopold III. and his ministers . Or the beginning of what would later become the king's question.