Clervaux Castle
A 12th-century Ardennes castle housing Edward Steichen's world-famous "Family of Man" photo exhibition.
White-walled Clervaux Castle in the Ardennes valley
What to expect at Clervaux Castle
Perched above the deep Clerve valley in the northern Ardennes, Clervaux Castle was built around 1198, rebuilt after fire in the 17th century, and gutted again during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. Restored in the 1950s, it now shelters three museums under one roof: the Battle of the Ardennes museum with US and German equipment recovered from the surrounding forests, a scale-model collection of Luxembourg's castles, and — most famously — Edward Steichen's "The Family of Man", a UNESCO Memory of the World-listed photo exhibition of 503 images by 273 photographers from 68 countries.
Steichen was Luxembourg-born and curated the show for MoMA in 1955; it moved permanently to Clervaux in 1994. The whitewashed castle walls and cool galleries are the perfect frame for the black-and-white prints. Clervaux is a straight rail ride from Luxembourg City on the northern line, and the town below the castle has good cafés and a Benedictine abbey on the opposite hillside if you want to make a full day of it.
Questions about Clervaux Castle
Family of Man $7 adult, $5 senior/student, free under 12. Combined ticket for all three museums $10.
Free entry to the Family of Man exhibition on the first Sunday afternoon of every month.
Allow 2 hours for the Family of Man alone, or 3 hours to combine all three museums in the castle.
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays year-round, plus 24, 25, 31 December and 1 January.
No — walk-up tickets at the castle desk. Groups over 10 should email steichencollections@cna.etat.lu.
Clervaux train station is an 8-minute walk from the castle. Direct trains from Luxembourg City every hour take 55 minutes; travel is free nationwide.
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