- Castle of Rumbeke
The Castle of
Rumbeke is one of the oldestRenaissance castles ofBelgium .Although most of the building was built during the Renaissance period, it became slightly classicistic after its renovation during the 18th century. During those renovations, the adjacent forest, the Sterrebos or the Star Forest, was added. The forest was modeled after thePrater park inVienna .According to legend, Baldwin Iron Arm,
Count of Flanders , kidnapped Judith, the daughter ofCharles the Bald in 862 inSenlis and brought her to the fortress that used to be at the very location of where the castle stands now. With the intervention of the Pope, the two lovers married inAuxerre , which then resulted in the creation of theCounty of Flanders .For centuries, the castle was owned by the counts of Thiennes and
Limburg Stirum . The castle of Rumbeke suffered several damages during the invasion of Flanders by French kingLouis XIV , as well as during theFrench Revolution and both world wars more than a century later. In fact, duringWorld War I , it was taken over by the Germans and became for a short period of time, the home of the infamous baronManfred von Richthofen , better known as theRed Baron , who was credited with shooting down 80 enemy aircraft in his brightly painted red airplane.The castle can be seen in the movie 'That Lucky Touch', a comedy which was partially shot in Rumbeke in 1975, starring
Roger Moore andShelley Winters .
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