Château de Sedan

The Château de Sedan is a castle situated in Sedan, France, near the Meuse river. It is the largest fortress in Europe, covering an area of 35,000 square metres (380,000 sq ft) in its seven floors.[1]

Château de Sedan
Château de Sedan
The Château de Sedan
Alternative namesSedan Castle Fort
General information
LocationCours Clos du Château, 08200 Sedan, France
Construction started1424
Technical details
Floor count7
Floor area35,000 square meters
Website
https://www.chateau-fort-sedan.fr/en/

History

Around 1424, Eberhard II von der Mark built a manor with two towers around a church over a period of six years. When Eberhard died in 1440, his son Jean de la Marck began reinforcing the fortress, but it was Robert II de la Marck, the grandson of Jean, who finished the most important work. In 1530, the fortifications of the manor were modernised by the construction of a circular boulevard and terraces with cannons, thickening the 4.5-metre (15 ft) curtain wall by an additional 26 metres (85 ft). The bastions were added during the course of the next century, but some of them were eventually dynamited at the end of the 19th century. In 1699, the principality having been absorbed into France in 1642 (see the Battle of Marfée, during the Thirty Years' War), and the castle having been transformed into a garrison, Vauban built the door of the Princes (French: « des Princes ») that was adapted to the progress of artillery. In 1822, the Church of Saint-Martin was demolished and replaced with a store for cannonballs.

Turenne was born in the Château de Sedan in 1611.[2]

Franco-Prussian War

On September 1, 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War, the Army of Chalons was defeated at the Battle of Sedan.[3] Napoleon III surrendered the following day in the small neighboring city of Donchery.[2]

World Wars I and II

The castle was used as a military hospital by the German army in World War I.[4] Sedan was also the site of a French loss to the Germans in World War II in the Battle of Sedan (1940).[2]

Current use
A diorama in the Chateau de Sedan's museum

The castle was given by the French Army to the city of Sedan in 1962.[1] Today the castle contains a hotel and a museum showing the lives of inhabitants throughout its history and the Franco-Prussian War.[5]

See also

References
  1. Marsh, Terry (2015). The Green Guide: Alsace Lorraine Champagne. Saint-Just-la-Pendue, France: Michelin Travel Partner. p. 358. ISBN 9782067203372.
  2. Horne, Alistair (2007). The Fall of Paris. London: Penguin. ISBN 9780141030630.
  3. Fermer, Douglas (2011). France at Bay 1870-1871: The Struggle for Paris. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword. ISBN 9781848843257.
  4. "The Castle Sedan Used as German Military Hospital". National Museum of American History. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  5. Lekic, Slobodan (8 August 2019). "Battle tested: For military history buffs, France's Sedan delivers". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 2020-02-08.

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