Hesperange Castle probably dates from the early 13th century when the Counts of Luxembourg gave Hesperange to the Lords of Rodenmacher who sided with the French when the Burgundians conquored Luxembourg in 1443. Maximilian of Austria dismantled the castle in 1480 and 1482 after battles with Gerard of Rodenmacher. In 1492, he transferred it to the Lords of Baden who had to pawn it in 1692 and could only reclaim it in 1740.
After the French captured the castle in 1796, the French government nationalized it and sold it by auction in 1798. Later parts of the ruins were sold individually and by 1820 seven houses stood on the castle grounds. Now a national monument, the ruins are still privately owned.
References:House of the Blackheads (Melngalvju nams) is a building situated in the old town of Riga. The original building was erected during the first third of the 14th century for the Brotherhood of Blackheads, a guild for unmarried German merchants in Riga. Major works were done in the years 1580 and 1886, adding most of the ornaments.
The structure was bombed to a ruin by the Germans June 28, 1941 and the remains demolished by the Soviets in 1948. The current reconstruction was erected from 1995 to 1999. Today the House of Blackheads serves as a museum and sometimes concert hall.