Kasteel Neubourg

Kasteel Neubourg lies in the valley of the Gulp, in the hamlet of Pesaken just outside Gulpen, surrounded by woodland, orchards and meadows. A lime avenue leads over a bridge across the moat to the northern forecourt, and house, towers, forecourts and farm still form a single ensemble. It is a national monument, with its historic park, laid out in English landscape style, protected along with the buildings.

The site has a long history. North of Gulpen stood an earlier motte castle, Gracht Burggraaf, and the present castle dates from after 1288, probably starting as a motte itself. In 1301 the chapter of Aachen sold land to a lord named Arnold, who called himself lord of Wittem and Nieuwenborgh. In 1398 the castle passed to Jan van Eynatten, whose family held it for around three centuries. Adolf van Eynatten, owner from 1619, laid the basis for the castle as it stands today, building the tower, the forecourt with its corner towers and the farm. The tower carries the date 1640 and reuses medieval masonry. The two forecourts are seventeenth-century work in the Maasland Renaissance style, combining red brick, marl and blue hardstone.

The eighteenth century brought new owners and a new look. The Aachen cloth merchant Johann Adam Clermont bought it in 1716, and in 1732 it passed to Ferdinand Adolf, Count of Plettenburg and Wittem, who had it thoroughly remodelled; the work began under the Westphalian architect Johann Conrad Schlaun. From 1769 it belonged to Leonard Bernard de Hayme de Houffalize, a mayor of Liège, whose initials L.B.D.H. still appear in the Louis XV balcony railings. Neoclassical gates and baroque towers with stacked onion spires date from this period. Around 1850 the Brussels architect Victor Evrard added a front wing for Oscar de Marchant et d'Ansembourg, closing the old U-shaped plan.

The castle's twentieth century was eventful. During the Second World War Jesuits ran a boarding school in it, and in 1944 it served as headquarters of the US XIX Corps. From 1952 it was a hotel and restaurant. Since 2004 it has again been a private home, and restoration work has been carried out.

Because Neubourg is privately owned, the house and grounds are not open to the public. The pleasure lies in seeing it from the surrounding countryside: a marked walking route of 7.2 kilometres from Gulpen passes the castle at Pesaken on its way to Euverem and Crapoel. It suits walkers and anyone interested in the castle architecture of the Maas region.