Baldenau Castle was built by the Trier Elector and Archbishop Balduin of Luxemburg around the year 1320. Initially designed as a hunting lodge, it was later on, beginning in 1324, completed to a residential seat through the construction of additional buildings, stables, and barns. The principal Balduin who initiated the building and gave it his name, was born in 1285 as the youngest son of Count Henry VI. of Luxemburg.
The most impressive part of castle is the keep, 25m height and 10m width. The surrounding moat is 12m wide. During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), Baldenau Castle was seriously damaged by Swedish troops, but reconstructed throughout the years 1649-1654. However, only 35 years later, in 1689, the French army devastated the castle.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.