Castle - Reflection

On Sunday morning I had to guide some people around in the park of a castle. In the afternoon I made some pictures myself of the Castle of Poeke (Belgium).


Some historical information on demand of a dA-friend:

In the early Middle Ages (12th century), the reinforced castle of Poeke (Flanders - Belgium) served as a real bastion where knights from Flanders county assembled. The castle, which was the residence of the "Heren Van Poucke" ("Gentlemen of Poeke - mention the old-Dutch spelling of the word "Poeke") was at that time governed from Bruges. However, combative Ghent rebels repeatedly attacked the castle. Consequently, after the year 1453 Poeke castle felt into ruin for many years. One and a half century late, in 1597, the family Preud'homme d'Hailly from Rijsel (North of France) bought the castle from a family called "Delrye" and governed Poeke for more than 2 centuries. They made the castle the centre of their increasingly growing properties.

It was in the same year 1597 that heirs of this nobility introduced the title "Burggraven of Nieuwpoort" ("Viscounts of Nieuwpoort"). Although their cultural wealth was initially suppressed because of the 16th and 17th century wars, successive generations of viscounts led the Baronny of Poucques to a short, but uncontested peak in 1765. From 1762 up to 1774, Karel Florent Idesbald de Preudhomme was not onlyViscount of Nieuwpoort and Oombergen, Baron of Poeke, Sir of Axpoele, Neuville, Sint-Lievens-Esse, Velaines, etc., but also chamberlain of the Austrian king.

At that time, the kingdom of the Netherlands was governed by Austria and looked as a rigid and hierarchic society, where the aristocracy was able to maintain their privileges up to the French Revolution (1789). Even after the French-Napoleonic empire collapsed (1815) and after Belgium came into being (1830), the aristocracy could maintain its position as the high social class on the Flemish countryside.

The isolated location of Poeke, the steady decrease of the number of its inhabitants and the stable agricultural character of Poeke, which mainly consisted of farmsteads, all these reasons caused the aristocratic power system to continue to function until after the Second World War (1945).

In the second half of the 19th century, the family Preudhomme D'Hailly was once and for all past its peak and financial problems weakened its position inside as well as outside the village. As a consequence, they had to abandon the castle in 1872.

The family Pycke de Peteghem - which was raised to the peerage in 1730 - bought the castle and gradually dominated the small East-Flemish agricultural village. Its political representation mainly focused on the mayoralty, a position that was rarely assigned to someone who was not a member of the aristocratic family.

The castle largely survived both World Wars, but the aristocratic influence during the 20th century died out when the last Baroness of Poeke, Inès Pycke de Peteghem deceased (1955). The property structure of the castle changed for the last time in 1977, when Poeke fused with Aalter. From then on, the castle was owned by the community and became a public domain. Up to now, it is part of an extraordinary recreation facility.