Belgium · 12th century
Anvaing Castle (French: Château d'Anvaing) or Château de Lannoy is a historic residence in the village of Anvaing in the municipality of Frasnes-lez-Anvaing, province of Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgium.
The site of the Château d'Anvaing has been occupied by a castle since the time of the First Crusade. The first known reference dates from 1127. There is little documentation of the buildings on the site however until the reconstructions of 1561 and 1800. The owners were apparently the Roubaix family, judging from the arms on an early part of the building, and later the comital branch of the de Lannoy family whose descendants still own it. Stéphanie, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, born to the de Lannoy family, grew up in the castle.
The castle is chiefly notable as the place in which the Belgian capitulation was signed on 28 May 1940, during the Battle of the Lys. At the time, it served as the headquarters of the German 6th Army. The Belgian plenipotentiaries arrived at the castle at 9:35 am. Shortly afterwards, General Olivier Derousseaux and Commandant Liagre were received by General Walther von Reichenau and Major-General Friedrich Paulus. Discussions took place in the dining room. At 10:00 am, the surrender became effective. The document was read and signed. In celebration, a German officer fired a gunshot into the ceiling which is still present.
Text adapted from “Château d'Anvaing” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Anvaing Castle ranks #3,444 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #37 of the 128 mapped in Belgium. Founded 1127, it is older than 84% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 756 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 993 times in the last 60 days, more than 50% of the atlas. 5 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Mons, 36 km away. See how Belgium compares in the castle statistics.
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