The Château de Schœneck is a ruined
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
situated in the ''
commune'' of
Dambach, in the French ''
département'' of
Bas-Rhin.
History
The castle, probably built at the end of the 13th century, is on a rocky crest at an altitude of 380 m. It was certainly built at the instigation of the
Hohenstaufens for hunting brigands taking refuge in the area. Destroyed around 1280, it was rebuilt in 1286 and is mentioned in 1287 as the property of the
Bishop of Strasbourg, ally of the
Habsburgs
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
. He entrusted the upkeep to the
Lichtenbergs and pledged its allegiance to Schœneck.
The castle was restored between 1335 and 1390 to adapt it to the progress of
artillery. It was modernised between 1545 and 1547 by the Exkbrechts of
Durckheim, who had held the
fiefdom since 1517. The castle was finally destroyed in 1680 by French troops, on the order of
Louis XIV and, after the
French Revolution, the ruins were bought by the Dietrich family.
The castle has been listed as a ''
monument historique
''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...
'' by the
French Ministry of Culture since 1984.
Description
A small vaulted door and a larger entrance flanked by two 16th century bastions with cannon holes are still visible. The remains of the
manor
Manor may refer to:
Land ownership
*Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England
*Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism
*Man ...
buildings appear as a
Lombard frieze, notably because of the bay windows on the upper level outside the western curtain wall, with their narrow semi-circular arches. To the west, a rectilinear curtain wall closes the lower courtyard while, in the east, a long wall is flanked by two towers.
The castle has been the subject of consolidation works by the ''association Cunulmergrun'' since 2000.
See also
List of castles in France
References
External links
Official site of the commune of Dambach*
Bibliography
* Maurice Frey ''Chronique des fouilles médiévales. Dambach-Neunhoffen, Château de Schoeneck'' 1983
* Ecole d'architecture, Strasbourg ''Le château de Schoeneck, Chantiers 1981/1984'' 1984
* BILGER, Bertrand-L ''Schoeneck ou les ambitions des Durckheim'' 1991
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoeneck, Chateau de
Ruined castles in Bas-Rhin
Monuments historiques of Bas-Rhin
Rock castles