Château du Châtelet, Castle in Harchéchamp, Vosges, France

The Château du Châtelet stands within its medieval wall on a height above the Vair in Harchéchamp. The Renaissance main building, rebuilt in the 16th century, is rectangular and flanked by two square towers; its west facade keeps wide mullioned windows and a tall roof pierced by dormers, with a cartouche dated 1578 in the corridor to the south tower. The enclosure also holds a 15th-century tower on the village side, a 17th-century fortified house called the château de Couvonges, a farm dated 1650 and a semi-buried garage.

Thierry le Diable built a large tower called the Châtelet on a steep promontory above the Vair from the 12th century, giving the lordship its name, which passed to his eldest son Ferri. The castle was gradually surrounded by powerful fortifications in the Middle Ages. The seigneurial residence was rebuilt in Renaissance taste in the 16th century, with 1578 on a reused cartouche in the south tower's access corridor. Voltaire visited in the 18th century.

The lordship took its name from the great tower Thierry le Diable raised on the spur above the Vair, and his eldest son Ferri carried the name du Châtelet. In the 18th century Voltaire stayed at the castle, and the village's main street still bears his name. The grounds also hold a small African museum in the 17th-century maison-forte of Couvonges.

The castle stands inside its medieval wall on a height above the Vair, reached from the village of Harchéchamp in the western Vosges. The grounds are private and the castle is not open to the public, so it is seen from outside. The small automobile museum in the semi-buried garage opens only during the European Heritage Days.

The nickname of the founder, Thierry le Diable, passed to the lordship and to his eldest son Ferri, and the family took the name du Châtelet from the tower. The castle is not listed as a monument historique, and the enclosure also holds a 17th-century fortified house, the château de Couvonges, once used as a prison.