Château de Montbéliard The Château de Montbéliard ( Castle of Montbeliard ) , also known as the Château des ducs de Württemberg ( Castle of the Dukes of Württemberg ) is a fortress located on an outcropping rock that surveys the town of Montbéliard in the Doubs " département " of France . It is a " monument historique " listed by the French Ministry of Culture . History . It is believed that there has been a fortress on the site since the Gallo - Roman times , though then it was only a wooden watchtower acting as an observation post for the defence of the town of Mandeure ( " Epomanduodurum " ) . Until 1397 , the castle belonged to the Montfaucon family . The marriage of Henriette d ' Orbe to Eberhard IV , son of the count Eberhard III of Württemberg , transferred the ownership of the castle to the Württemberg family . It was the home of Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg - Schwedt , mother of Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia . In 1793 , the castle became part of Revolutionary France . It served as a garrison until 1933 , when it was transformed into a history museum . Architecture . The castle was once divided into two parts around the ancient Church of Saint - Maimbœuf that dominated the esplanade of the castle with its high belltower . The " Châtel - Derrière " ( back of the castle ) , in the east , had two imposing towers dating from time immemorial . It contained the reception and the private apartments of the counts and dukes who followed one another , first in the county and then in the principality . This part of the castle was separated by a wide and deep ditch ( which does not exist today ) , spanned by a drawbridge . The " Châtel - Devant " ( front of the castle ) , in the west , dominates the town of Allan and the river Lizaine ( before it channels underground ) , and contains along its northern face the single entry of the fortress , together with its drawbridge and portcullis . The drawbridge spanned a ditch that was added for the protection of the entrance ; this ditch was filled in during the great transformations of the 18th century that modified aspects of the castle . " Châtel - Devant " contained in its enclosure the buildings of the garrison ( which sometimes also housed official travelers ) , the stables , the falconry , and the arsenal which stored the guns , ammunition and weapons necessary for the defence of the castle and the city . The imposing mass of the " Hôtel du Baili " ( the bailiff ' s lodging ) always dominated this part of the castle . One can still make out the building of the chancellery that was located immediately past the entrance of the castle . It is said that the castle was in a state of advanced decay at the end of the 18th century . Several buildings were demolished and rebuilt during the 18th and 19th centuries . Two prominent 19th - century transformations were : the demolition of the Église Saint - Maimbœuf in 1810 ; and the destruction of the house called " " entre les tours " " ( between the towers ) , which was a building flanked by the Henriette and Frederique towers characterising " Châtel - Derrière " that gives the castle its imposing aspect . This house was replaced by a facade decorated with spires in the Germanic style of the 17th century .