The Château de Saint-Ulrich (also known as Château de Grand-Ribeaupierre or Ulrichsburg) is one of three castles (with the Girsberg and the Haut-Ribeaupierre) which overlooks the ''

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

'' of

Ribeauvillé Ribeauvillé (; Alsatian: ''Rappschwihr''; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was a sub-prefecture of the department until 2015. Its inhabitants are called ''Ribeauvillois''. Geography The ...

in the

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is th ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' of France. It is situated at an altitude of 528 m. The present name of the site is from the chapel dedicated to Saint Ulrich of Augsburg which is found in the castle. Medieval texts never gave the present name - the castle had the name of the Rappolstein dynasty (or Ribeaupierre in the French style).

History

From the 11th to the 16th centuries, the castle was the principal residence of the powerful lords of Ribeaupierre. There must have been another castle on the same site which belonged in 1114 to the Bishop of

Basle , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

. It was occupied militarily by Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, who used it as a strongpoint in his war against the

Eguisheim Eguisheim (; german: Egisheim; Alsatian: ''Egsa'') is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It lies in the historical region of Alsace (german: Elsass). The village lies on the edge of the Ballons des Vosge ...

s. It was then returned to the Bishop of Basle who restored it to the Ribeaupierres. Anselme II de Ribeaupierre, who chased the other members of the family from the castle, successfully survived two

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

s, in 1287 by Rudolph I of Germany and, in 1293, his successor

Adolf Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

. A celebrated crimal, Dame Cunégonde d'Hungersheim, was incarcerated in the keep and tried to escape with the aid of a guard. The castle is a very fine example of the military architecture of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

in the Middle Ages, including a keep erected in the 12th century and a residence with chimney of the 12th century. In the 13th century, the ''salle des chevaliers'' (knights' hall) was decorated with nine beautiful windows in the Romanesque style which can still be seen. In the same period (1435), the chapel dedicated to Saint Ulrich, Bishop of

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

, was built. The Ribeaupierre family left this castle in the 16th century for a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

-style mansion (the present school in Ribeauvillé). The castle was dismantled during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

The castle today

The visible remains date from several epochs: * 12th century : Square keep and the

corps de logis In architecture, a ''corps de logis'' () is the principal block of a large, (usually classical), mansion or palace. It contains the principal rooms, state apartments and an entry.Curl, James Stevens (2006). ''Oxford Dictionary of Architecture ...

* 13th century : Salle des chevaliers, and the residential tower * 14th century : Barbican and outer

enceinte Enceinte (from Latin incinctus: girdled, surrounded) is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the position. Fo ...

* 15th century: Chapel ( Saint-Ulrich) The Château de Saint-Ulrich has been listed since 1841 as a '' monument historique'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visua ...

. Châteaux de Guirsberg, de Haut-Ribeaupierre et de Saint-Ulrich Image:Chateau Saint-Ulrich 3.jpg, Entry to the outer enceinte Image:Chateau Saint-Ulrich 4.jpg, Castle entrance File:01 Ulrichsburg, Ribeauville.JPG, Aerial view Image:Chateau Saint-Ulrich 7.jpg Image:Saint-Ulrich et Girsberg.jpg, Château de Saint-Ulrich with Château du Girsberg in the background

The legend of the mortal arrow

Two Ribeaupierre brothers, one living in the château de Saint-Ulrich, the other in Girsberg, had agreed to go hunting the next day. They had arranged a signal: the first to wake would fire an arrow at the other's shutters. The Saint-Ulrich brother awoke first and shot an arrow towards his brother's shutters. But the latter, at the moment the arrow arrived, opened his shutters. He died, his heart pierced.

References

Bibliography

*Braun, Jean, ''Circuit des châteaux forts d'Alsace'' - Ingersheim : éd. SAEP, 1978 - collection ''Delta 2000''. *Carmona Christophe & Trendel, Guy, ''Les Châteaux autour de Ribeauvillé et Ricquewihr'' - Sarreguemines, éd. Pierron, 2001 - collection ''Les Châteaux des Vosges : histoire, architecture, légendes'' n°7. *Mengus, Nicolas, ''Au temps des châteaux forts en Alsace'' - Strasbourg, éd. Coprur, 2004. *Salch, Charles-Laurent, ''Nouveau dictionnaire des châteaux Forts d'Alsace'', Alsatia, 1991.

External links