Abandoned 19th-Century Neoclassical Castle in Belgium | Used in World War I (WW1)

[Music] today i'm exploring a new classical style castle in belgium dating back from the 19th century in 1838 a belgian merchant and politician bought its grounds and initially only built a hunting pavilion [Music] ten years later he decided to build the actual castle that same year he was appointed mayor of the town he and his wife of his countess remained childless and after their death all their properties ended up in the hands of their superintendent when the loving couple passed away he took up their permanent residence in the castle in 1914 the castle fell into german hands the forest around the castle was then transformed into a junction of defenses with trenches and barbed wire fences the castle itself became a care center for the wounded during the final offensive in 1918 the castle was reclaimed but did not emerge [Music] unscathed [Music] today a noble british family owns the castle but sadly they barely look after a property with such a rich history and essence for the village anymore [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] oh welcome back everyone on the channel here i am swinging on my rocking horse and today i have something absolutely unique to show you i am currently in a castle but not in france like normally no i'm in belgium and this place i think nobody has ever seen it before somewhere somehow i have a very sad feeling and a sad vibe and atmosphere in this place it's vandalized here and there but i have a feeling that something worrying might have happened there i really don't know but as there are so many personal memories left behind i cannot wait to dig into the history of the former residents who live there and today i'm gonna take you on this adventure and exploration together with me so enjoy watching this video good job [Music] buddy so i'm starting off in the downstairs area and here we go this was like a sitting corner i guess there is still a bottle of liquor over here we can see a beautiful embroidery pattern of the castle we are exploring today have a look at it it's giant this will probably be a very long video but there are so many details to point out it's absolutely gonna be a great adventure look at this wizards like we are still a television it's so sad to see that you can clearly tell vandalists have found this place this has actually been a big issue because it's known who did this teenagers have damaged a complete property resulting in a multi-million dollar damage they've thrown with axes and they just smashed everything and everything and it really really makes me angry i can be this disrespectful to a property over here also the class has smashed you can still tell that everything was left behind by the former occupants it's absolutely unbelievable the people who lived there in this castle were of course very very important people they also clearly had children looked over there let's show utely said this complete cabinet with mirrors behind it has just been smashed as a wall but then i really love to point out this over here have a look at this gorgeous traditional belgium fireplace wow still with all the tools the old stove as well you can also see all the prints here new wooden carvings wow absolutely magnificent i'm really really wondering why they never decided to empty this place out actually very very sad to see that everything has just been smashed but then luckily i think this is still in relatively pristine condition look at all the tools over even the bellows normally you only find these in the castles in france but today we are just exploring one in belgium a little bit the dragonair too and also still the wood for the fireplace for the stove right next to it there's a man set there so i have to admit one thing that is that it's extremely extremely smelly in these rooms luckily i'm wearing a mask but i'm still smelling everything through the mosque and that's not very plausible i can tell you it's not a very pleasant feeling over here we can see some soldiers very old photo somewhere in the nature so unfortunately i cannot tell the family name because it would be too easy for people to find out about where this place is located so sad all these plates smashed on the ground i would never understand how you could finalize such a place and especially not this one these people were clearly very religious too this might have been their family coat of arms and they were definitely of noble origin okay so let's continue to the very very smelly kitchen the smell here is repulsive one of the worst smells i've ever ever smelled and it's all coming from here so we want to get out of this room as soon as possible still all the dishes here left for eternity to take over and just finish them literally all food is also still on the shelves even some coffee pods over there oh look there's actually a fish tank no animals left inside anymore all the glasses of the people where even some more food products also so many notes it's very very dirty oh look old coffee grind here too and then this spot was actually for white sugar it's saying over there coffee would be inside oh look at this it's something religious but the eye looks like illuminati and it's saying no swearing inside of this place god is watching you okay you can clearly tell the importance of religion to the life of these people and we enter another room it was more like i think an extra room with some more fridges and some freezers a barrel meter here too here are some photos on the wall also very personal so i'm just gonna go over it i'm not going into detail to just respect the privacy of those people a lot of washing products here look at all these wooden ornaments here on the wall looks like a pesto or something over here this is the clear evidence that these people had children or grandchildren there's just a dollhouse very very neat you could close it up like this i think it's the first time ever i find a dollhouse inside of an abandoned place well let's close it up again over here we can see another photo of a man i'm not yet sure if this was the former owner but we will definitely find out throughout this complete exploration so i think the next room was actually like a storage spot let's be careful there's a lot of pillows and i think they were used for the garden chairs [Music] these people they actually had a very very huge garden it must have been very very wonderful times in the summer all the moldy shoes here too but they're just all left behind there's even a nerf gun and what i hear right now i think is a leakage problem yep this is definitely a huge leakage all throughout the shadow where over there you can see it i really want to stop it but how can i i think the pipe is broken yeah it clearly is i wish i could stop it it's sad to see that the property is now just being damaged because of water leakage oh look over here this was actually for a game all these wooden sticks we play a game with a ball there are so many toys so many children toys that's one of those things which always makes me sad to find unfortunately it's the reality of this modern world but places like this just end up being neglected completely wear a lot of boots they will probably also use to work in a garden [Music] okay now from this part with the kitchen i want to go on oh look over here barometer with this religious statue on top this was actually like a hallway some bottles of red wine from 1994 and they are from france flower bucket here so many mechanic things tools appliances again some letters and some old photos then look over here there's actually still all the walking gains so i think the reason why this place actually end up being abandoned is because of wilderness i think the last resident was a person of old age eventually sadly enough departed this earth like we all do one day and eventually the property just ended up being neglected maybe all the inheritance did not agree about the shares maybe there are no persons to follow up which i can actually barely imagine myself because the family seemed to be very very large and you often see that in these families of novel origin i think they are still figuring out who gets what but they didn't meet in agreement about this yet and to be honest i think they've waited for way too long if you see or just reckless and stupid people that with this place at least today we are here with a good intention to capture the beauty of this place because it still is look at these hangers they were like hunting trophies with these animal bars wow over here still the wardrobe entirely filled with all their jackets what i absolutely really really like is that the inside of all the wardrobes we're gonna find now just contain all these old photos and this was the last owner you can tell by all the badges he's wearing on a suit he was so so important oh wow i really love this religious artifact there are so many people normally it's only a maria statue maria with jesus but over here i think this one is very unique the man here drinking oh look at the bench wow again still so many shoes left behind and instead of just leaving them to waste covering them with molds letting them being covered by mold it should be restored well this was definitely a toy not a real sword and there was another little chat part this was probably for all the drinks all their wines strangely enough there is no wine cellar so many food products they look so repulsive this place is clearly abandoned for longer than 10 years if it's not even longer than that but of course also because of the leakage problems it's been decaying a lot you can also see the spores of the leakage on the ceiling oh there is actually a basement but i'm not sure if this is safe you can definitely tell the stairs over here have just collapsed on the floor and probably the basement is also fluided but i'm gonna take a look we're in this together there is such a hollow sound in the basement i can clearly hear myself all the time gosh i really don't know what we are going to find but let's just find out i think this was a water tank these parts could have served as a wine storage although i'm not sure of that there's not many things left [Applause] another that is still some jars might have been used for canned food oh yeah over there was definitely the light storage have a look all the balls of wine still there they actually had a lot of space to store all these wine bottles and somehow often you see this in the castles that in the basements it's fully stored with white because these people will lift inside those castles often like to drink wine now this is just another balance leading to the outside but this was a very cool find i was already thinking is there no white cellar inside this castle and then i literally stumbled upon these stairs going down here all right it's time to go upstairs and we are going to time travel in a journey of the memories of the people who live there this must have been on their wedding day look at them sitting in the car a woman smiling this was her when she was older literally at the back side of the property walking in dark and she looks like she was very very happy another property i don't know which one this exactly is but it also looks very very gorgeous then over here we can see the old farming live in belgium many animals which have been killed they were actually hunters so sad to see that all these animals were killed and that just only because of i think an ornamental reason and they just wanted to use this as decoration i already disliked this but it all happened in the history in the past yeah so this was definitely the madden's younger days this was probably his mother and over here another sign of evidence that the person who lived there actually was quite old there is a stairlift wow some old photos over here also look over here all the gents gathering around in this room must have been a very important meeting and this was the man when he still was a soldier in the army all the books over here another photo of a marriage all these tiny ornaments even look at this aware what is it actually also looks like this was a hunter i think this man was also involved in hunting and besides that he actually was a collector of many many things but you're all gonna find out if you just keep watching this video [Music] okay so let's continue on the next floor and over here we can see the set aftermath off vandalists have a look this was once a wonderful portrait you can see with how much aggression this was smashed literally in the face of this wonderful woman being displayed on the portraits it's deeply deeply touches me and hurts me to see a place undergo this severe vandalism over here this case has also been smashed but you can still see the singer sewing machine inside and actually a very beautiful piece wow look at this there's even planes on top oh my there's even old identity cards over here this one is from the 12th of april 1900 and actually a french identity card there is also still a postal stamp on it with 13 francs there's yet also an old photo over here look like those were all the children from the family and look how neatly they made us this photo from small to bigger to bigger to largest another old photo of a man and over here is also entirely filled with photos i think i have never found so many photos in the place before like you're gonna see in this one you can clearly see the people who live there the people who owned this place and all of that throughout all the generations well you can already take a glimpse at the beauty which you're about to see in more detail this is of course where i shot the intro but i'm just going to start off right over here at the memory wall inside of this cabinet and i just don't know where to begin so many photos also so many different people you can see children you can see elderly people the photos they don't seem to be logically arranged like in a chronologic order all seem like random different time periods some are more modern some are rather older many people seem to be involved in the government and also in the army and i'm sure the people that live there like i mentioned before had a very important function and still is nowadays a very important family in belgium wow just everywhere you look there are photos and if you would open this cabinet it will look like this you open it you could bend it fold it like this and it was just an entire photo book isn't this just brilliant they were just cherishing all the memories and moments with all the family members and friends but then very very gloomy enough it's now just all left forgotten and left to waste so right over here you can already take a glimpse of another stairway going one level up but i will leave that for later as i first have to show you this incredible floor with many many unique things left behind so have a look right over here actually i said they were also involved in the army those are very old helmets of a soldier they were also quite heavy too wow this one still has the mud inside since the last time it's being used probably on a mission i'm not even gonna touch it anymore with all care and respect i'm gonna leave it here but these pieces both belong in a museum and not left to waste inside this belgium castle so many tiny things over here are now look at least one portrait which hasn't been smashed this beautiful woman and then take a glimpse at this room this door over here was actually the main door with the stairs going up like you saw on the photo too and then they would enter through here over here you can clearly see that just everything was thrown out all the different compartments but still this tall wow enough has also been destroyed but i really really like it well there is still a huge china collection inside of the shelves there look at this wonderful china it's also incredibly detailed and what i actually noticed is that you can see all these orange tags and that means that they were trying to divide all the stuff between all the inheritance but i think what i mentioned previously they still haven't met an agreement yet luke also at this corner bookshelf wow again also a very very wonderful religious artwork behind it with these statues an old photo i think an important man for this family and i think these sketches over here actually some family ancestors or maybe even some very very well-known people out of history the radio over here and this giant bottle which was used to store wine but maybe they also use it as a flower vase well the rocking horse where i started the intro i've not found a horse like this many times only one time in a mansion in france if you haven't seen that video then check it out right over here there will be a link but i always really really love to find these then look at the massive fireplace so many things on top too wow all these tiny plates with jesus in the middle what's happening the light turns on huh okay this is very very strange and there it goes again like literally no joke there is nobody around me right now okay that was very very strange okay i will focus i will just continue but that was very very very hot anyways over here the stove on top of it the tarantula spider and also look inside of it there is a chicken there is a horse you can tell what a stately property this was one day and it still is the only difference is it's not being loft anymore but it's literally left to rot the wild boar over here on the wall next to it also the two heads of a fox also a tiny bird a squirrel so many pieces of taxonomy there is another bird or even all over here quiet damage too sadly enough oh and over here in this holder some binoculars tiny portraits and let's take a look inside these shelves oh is that a bone i think this was definitely a toy for the dog because otherwise it would be very very strange oh and over all the games they would play together with their family what a place this is one of those places where i just don't know where to look i really hope that you're still following everything well enough and then not too chaotic because i want to pan through everything very very slowly and just ensure that you get the experience that i have now i actually noticed that this sofa is quite luxurious look at the sides too and over here luckily some other beautiful portraits which not have been smashed there is also an antler on top of there a fairly big one all the different electricity plugs inside of this box oh and some model ships this was actually a pirate ship or at least it was supposed to be one but it's very very tiny for a pirate ship there is a bust of a boy this might have been their son i think i also saw a similar sketch or portrait of him in another room which is about to follow so remember this face oh this looks more like a pirate ship wow look at the portrait over here this must have been a family ancestor of the novel family tree and then we're gonna walk underneath the ark over here and have a look at this wow debug shells but that's not the only thing the foxes on the sides there was again an antler on top of the shelf over here oh also look at this animal over here with the teeth but then have a look at this oh my gosh blown away by this place those all look like tiny potions or something wow and they actually wear for potions medicines even poison over here very very strange i think this was one of the collections that the man had clearly he was also very very intelligent there is many many books multiple ones on each side i was never even expecting that such a place would still exist in belgium but here i am exploring it and it's really really like a dream coming true for me well this was actually another kitchen part still also all their cutlery and sides feels like fairly heavy cutlery all the blades do it's literally like these people just walked away of everything look i'm not sure if you are able to see this well but this side is still straight this side is crooked and it's narrow to collapse it's bending down but yeah you can tell all the mocks spices candle hole there with candles some flower decoration everything is still there there is actually a holiday wish card saying merry christmas from 2010 and over here you can also see the turkey and one thing which i notice is that we are in the flemish part of belgium today where the people actually thought dutch or flemish like you want to say it but over here it also says something written in french so it says close the door in flemish or dutch and says vermeer that's french for closed door one small detail which i noticed many french things inside but then it's time to show you the grand crown dining room there we go oh my gosh this is hands down my very very favorite room throughout the complete place it's so so dark because almost every window has been sealed ever since the local teenagers just smashed everything and yet again i literally don't know where to begin it seems the place is abandoned since christmas time as there was christmas balls on the ceiling well let's just start off in this corner not just all the blades on the sides the ground fireplace in the middle beautiful old portrait over there again a stuffed bird looks like a hawk quiet vintage radio tiny globe over here television from sony again all these ornamental plates together with some other personal figurines but this fireplace it's also saying something about war but description is very ancient and i cannot really relate what it's saying is seeing something with our lady frees us from this house from war and from i can't relate to last thing but this is probably the sad atmosphere of this place not only the vandalism but this place was also being lifted and maybe also attacked during war times it seemed that the people who lived there played a key role in the war these faces made in the sides all carved out in the stones truly unbelievable and then look from a closer aspect to the statue there too jesus holding the belgian flag like it's a sign of nationality again so many ornaments and then again we also see these same portraits of the man with the castle right behind him that's the front entrance this was probably one of the main people in the novel family tree so literally over here it's following from a china plate to a cow from a china plate to a personal cow and so on like literally everywhere everywhere on this side on the other side there were some beautiful upholstery chairs too definitely very very french interior these people also had but you can also clearly see the belgium influences and that's what i really really love about this castle is something completely different from other ones we've seen look at the hand over here oh my even in the walls this is a very very special wall print it feels like leather and everything is like three-dimensional has been carved inside of it it's probably a very very expensive wallpaper so many christmas cards and the last one over here is dated from 2013. the last date i can find so far so that would be eight years from now and in eight years time i think the property is already severely vandalized damaged but also very very much decayed just by the force of human nature look over there a little santa figurine again lots of mess just on the ground oh these stones and also all these glasses they were just used to make up the grand dining table again multiple plays over here this tiny curtain oh and this is very very cool there was this feather where they used to write with just handwritten letters and then the side of the spot that would actually be used as a storage for ink also a blade over here looks quite old and then just have a look at the room from this perspective i can't stop looking at it but if i really want to point out everything inside this place i would need at least 24 hours at least absolutely incredible let's continue oh look over here we can see another photo of the exterior of this beautiful castle when it was still being lifted filled with light filled with joy the garden still completely maintained and i can really imagine how it was one day how it looked one day and just imagine how it was to live inside of this place and then finally we're going even one other level up and at this floor the vandalism is going to be even more severe you can already see that the cabinets filled with boots over here that's just it's window smashed just disgusting how people can do this french lamb over here on the ceiling and it's such a big mess on this floor guitar over here just smashed and i can say this word for one thousand times now i think you get my points we're just going to do a walkthrough on this floor and let's check it out chikes there's a collection of insects over here a baseball groove and this was definitely perfume i can smell a strong sands over here oh many bullets here on the ground too [Music] this is probably still filled with jewelry and this was clearly a children's bedroom have a look even the simpsons over there this huge dull i just can't get my mind straight around it why nerds you could vandalize it this badly and you really have no moral standards anymore so right over here on the ground is actually something very very unique this was another collection of the man he actually collected these little boxes that were used to hold matches but three single box you see is a different one a unique one it's entirely filled there were skull brands in it like opal but there was also company like into sports also martini it's completely filled i've never seen something like this but like people are collecting lighters nowadays back in the days they also collected these tiny boxes filled with matches the vanity over here and you see car box i think this was another collection of the men well this was a bad room carplaying deck just thrown on the ground there is another old photo over here above the bed this one looks quite recent and yet on the other side there is another bedroom there are many beds inside of this place so that's another sign that the ammo that the family was quite large old-fashioned vacuum cleaner what would be inside the secretary desk not many things left anymore looks like this was another target of the vandalists however this part looks still so pristine this might have been another children's bedroom as there were many children on the family photo we found also look at these presses over here and yeah you can tell by the size of those chairs that this was definitely another children's bedroom there was even still a tiny pocket radio that was probably the possession of a girl okay i'm gonna do a walkthrough for the other rooms you've seen the children's bedroom the other bedrooms i think this was a bad room from all the people it definitely looks like however i'm not gonna walk here because this is all just gloss i don't want to walk inside of that with my feet i mean look this was literally a shelf filled with collectibles all tiny collectibles from the war but also seashells and it's all been thrown around dumbed on the floor over here even 1914 and 1918 this is a building filled with history why is the government not saving it there's even teeth over here and again another antler so hunting was also very very important for these people yet we enter another bedroom on this floor it's quite a large bath so i think this was also from an older person many things stored in boxes here and also again many toys of children and at the end of this corridor there are two other rooms behind these curtains actually a lot of clothes yet again a bedroom oh look at this box it's still filled with paint so one of the family members probably also really really like painting looks like a quite professional kit too oh yeah for sure over here another thing which was used for painting and this is another reason what made me feel quite worried i'm wondering what happened there it looks like here in the mirror those are actually some traces of blood you can also see the blood over here on these parts which have just been smashed and fallen out maybe the person who actually did this damage to the mirror injured himself or herself in that case i would not really bother but i'm still wondering what happened there well the last thing i want to show you inside of this castle is actually another staircase going down over here many bullets again in this bottle so i want to take some time to show you this over here it seems that those were all persons from the family tree with their names to piagone titans nick this was them all parts of the huge noble belgium family isn't this just beautiful i wish i had so many photos of my old family tree and then let's go down and show you one of the last rooms again a severe state of vandalism on the grounds but this is absolutely still in the pristine condition it's another old family photo i really really love it wow also the lamp typical french there is a photo from another soldier or maybe just a royal person of course with royal badges all as possible so do you remember the bust of a boy i was talking about in one of the main rooms this is already a photo of him amongst with some other people there's also a door i think leading to a ballroom yeah it was still the morning goes even over here all their brooming products still inside and again by the design of this toilet you can tell that one of the last residents was of an older age and needed assistance with all of these daily functioning activities a lot of medicines over here i really hope that the last residents they actually died in peace and that they lived a very happy life much blessings and much respect to them again another bedroom over here besides there was also a guitar there was so much mess all just caused by these disrespectful people in the world who cannot appreciate the beauty of sargent historic property look this is again an entire collection of him wow it's very impressive and also not very usual what they are collected over here in this window is also some stained glass and if the light was falling through you could see the religious shapes in it oh wow i love this aware actually all around this mirror there are again so many old photos and these ones in general look very very recent to imagine that these people once they just left and probably some of them are even still alive it's actually utterly sad well again another bad room but you can tell by its look this was another target of the vandalists wow even more old photos there is so many it's entirely filled this is even in front of the fireplace in the main living a man and woman with a little baby wow and not much has changed during the years to be honest all these historic people members of the family tree again right over here in these little prince on the wall and this is again the boy which i showed you the bust a sketch of him prepare to meet thai god it's saying over here on this proverb and then you might not believe it but i know this was a very very long explore we've actually made a way around now back at the staircase with a stair lift again and what a place this was now the last thing which is left for me to show you is actually a shed in the outside garden and the outside of this wonderful castle so let's go so what i lastly want to do is go to the chat and show you a glimpse of a vehicle and a motorbike which is still standing inside but it's hardly accessible my friend is trying to open the door but it doesn't seem possible maybe there is a window or something around the corner where i can show you more let's just walk around it's a quiet rainy day now in belgium unfortunately summer is over and now back to autumn time however that's most times the best time to explore oh look over here there is a window so i think this should be it oh yeah over there you can see the motorbike but i wanna see the other vehicle there was supposed to be another one i'm just gonna try i don't know if this is gonna fit i have to decouple my lights put my camera in between it let's check it out very very dark still i see a bike but nothing else no i think that's all i only see some chairs or something the motorbike but nothing else in the ship so like you can see most property has been sealed from the outside this is actually the back side of the place i even had like a balcony over there so neat so fully overgrown air you can barely walk her anymore [Applause] what's over here oh there is a vehicle and then supposedly over here it's supposed to be another vehicle oh i think i see it over there i only have to make my way through now oh wow yeah this is a vehicle it's a very old land rover it's right at the end of all these bushes i can already see it i don't know about you but there it is very old land rover fully overgrown and clearly not possible to move his car anymore it's been too long nature did its job nature reclaimed it completely stubborn swell for the vegetation there's actually a british license plate very very strange an epic adventure in belgium i will probably never ever forget what a property you can tell it's so stately from the outside too and i truly truly enjoyed this adventure and i sincerely hope you enjoyed the adventure along with me and if you did so you know the drill please hit the like button you can subscribe to our channel down below and also leave your thoughts in the comment section right down below if you want to support us on our travels check out our patreon page there is a link right down in the video description and as always i want to send you much love peas and blessings and we will see you on our next adventure peace out bye bye [Music] you

Channel: Explomo

Views: 189,202

Keywords: abandoned, abandoned castle, castle, abandoned 19th century castle, 19th century castle, abandoned places, abandoned neoclassical castle, neoclassical castle, world war one, world war I, WW1, world war 1, urbex, urban exploration, exploration, explomo, abandoned mansion, mansion, abandoned house, house, everything left behind, fully furnished, exploring, urban exploring, urban, belgium, castle in belgium, used in, used in WW1, abandoned castle in belgium, in belgium, bros of decay, EX

Id: rm_B-KPNe90

Length: 77min 6sec (4626 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 09 2020