The Château de Septfontaines was built in 1783–1784 by Jean-François and Pierre-Joseph Boch, who had opened their nearby porcelain factory in 1767, when Luxembourg was part of the Austrian Netherlands. The brothers had chosen Rollingergrund for their factory, as it offered all that was needed: clay, water and wood for the ovens. It was designed so that both their families could live there, which explains why the first floor is divided into two separate sections for the bedrooms, while the rooms on the ground floor, including the dining room and lounge, could be used by both families.
The castle was once occupied by French troops and was sold in 1914. After Luitwin von Boch had acquired it once again in 1970 in the name of Villeroy & Boch, he charged his cousin Antoine de Schorlemer to undertake comprehensive renovation work which lasted a full 12 years.
The rooms now testify to the success of the Boch brothers. Porcelain of all shapes and sizes decorates the walls and the windows. In the dining room hangs a portrait of the Austrian empress Maria Theresa (1717–1780), who had allowed them to build their factory in Rollingergrund and who had freed them from taxation for the first ten years. Now available for business conferences and receptions, the building is still used by the management, partners and clients of Villeroy & Boch when they are in Luxembourg.
References:Střekov Castle (Schreckenstein) is perched atop a cliff above the River Elbe, near the city of Ústí nad Labem. It was built in 1316 for John of Luxembourg, the father of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, to guard an important trade route to Germany. After changing hands several times, the castle was acquired by the Lobkowicz family in 1563. Its strategic importance led to occupations by Imperial Habsburg, Saxon, and Swedish forces during the Thirty Years' War, as well as successive sieges by Austrian and Prussian armies during the Seven Years' War.
Although Střekov Castle was heavily damaged during those conflicts and abandoned as a military installation by the end of the 18th century, the 1800s saw many poets and artists visiting the castle, drawn by a new trend of interest in romantic ruins.