Hingene Castle was the summer residence of the House of Ursel. The Dukes of Ursel and their family resided for 350 years on the estate. A famous resident was Conrard-Albert, first Duke of Ursel (1665-1738). His son the second duke asked Giovani Nicolano Servandoni (1695-1766) to redesign the family estate. The front was made symmetric like a palace.
The duke received important noblemen here, such as Johan von Sinzendorf und Pottendorf (1739-1813) and Joseph de Ferraris. During the 18th century the castle was known for banquets and balls. Marriages in the family were celebrated by the whole village, the dukes usually being well regarded locally. Around 1960 the castle was sold by the Duke of Ursel, the furniture and contents of the library were removed from the castle. The House of Ursel left the town, and chose to reside henceforth in Brussels.
In 1994 the province of Antwerp obtained ownership and restored the estate to its 17th century state. The Duke of Ursel gave an important part of the original interior back to the castle.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.