Kasteel van Tieghem de ten Berghe

Ghent, Belgium, Belgium

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Kasteel van Tieghem de ten Berghe is a historic building in Mariakerke, a district of Ghent in Belgium, that today functions as a municipal service centre rather than a private residence.

It stands on Paul van Tieghemlaan and was originally the seat of the medieval lordship of Schaubroeck, which was held by families such as Van Vaernewijck, Triest and Borluut before passing in the 19th century to the Van Tieghem de ten Berghe family. The original medieval structure and any later rebuildings were demolished around 1889 by heir Paul van Tieghem de ten Berghe, who commissioned a new building in neo‑Gothic style designed by architect Joseph Schadde; this new kasteel, then called “Les Muguets”, was completed in 1890.

The family lived in the house until 1917, when it was occupied by the German army during the First World War, and afterwards it was used by various families and institutions before falling into neglect after the Second World War. In 1963 the municipality bought the property, restored it, and in 1967 opened it as the new town hall of Mariakerke; after Mariakerke was merged into Ghent, the building became the district’s Dienstencentrum (service centre) and an office building, while most of the original castle park was sold off for housing development.

The building is a substantial two‑storey neo‑Gothic mansion of red brick with stone dressings, featuring a prominent central gabled risalite inspired by 14th‑century high Gothic, a polygonal corner tower with an open crown and galmgaten, elaborate window tracery, and interior decoration with stucco and chimney mantels bearing the family motto “Me Stella luce”. It has been protected as a monument since 25 March 1997, marking it as an important example of late 19th‑century historicist castle architecture in the Ghent area.