The Château du Wasigenstein (German: Burg Wasigenstein) 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 ...

in 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

Niedersteinbach Niedersteinbach is a commune in the Bas-Rhin ''département'' in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Sites and monuments * Château du Wasigenstein - 13th-century castle See also * Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following is a list of ...

in the

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...

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

'' of France.

History

The site was first known as the centre of the German legend of

Waltharius ''Waltharius'' is a Latin epic poem founded on German popular tradition relating the exploits of the Visigothic hero Walter of Aquitaine Walter or Walther of Aquitaine is a king of the Visigoths in Germanic heroic legend. Epic poetry Walter ...

in the 10th century. Two castles were built here in the 13th century each dependent on the other. The complex initially occupied only the eastern part of the castle rock, but was expanded from 1299 and supplemented by a second castle complex on the western part of the rock. Since then, it has been a double castle. The shares in both were held by members of the various lines of the von Wasigenstein family until the middle of the 14th century. When the male line died out, the property passed through heir daughters to the von Fleckenstein and from Hohenburg. They sold their rights to the property piece by piece, or passed parts on as fiefdoms, so that there was a strong fragmentation of ownership. Within 83 years, it was

besieged Besieged may refer to: * the state of being under siege * ''Besieged'' (film), a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci {{disambiguation ...

and conquered a total of seven times. The castle, which was probably very dilapidated afterwards, was given up as a residence in the 15th or 16th century. It was damaged by fire in the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...

and was completely destroyed in the

War of the Palatinate Succession The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarc ...

and has been in ruins ever since. The castle is state property and has been listed since 1898 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 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 (visual, ...

Key points

* at ''Grand-Wasigenstein'', the former cistern, the

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

, well-built rooms, etc. * at ''Petit-Wasigenstein'', a habitable keep with a thick walls, an enormous windlass capable of lifting considerable loads * access stairways cut into the rock: a monumental architectural work provided a steep ascent to the summits * a rift fault, separating the two castles ("the fault of Walther") * erosion on the south face of the rocky outcrop * a viewpoint over the Langenbach valley and towards Obersteinbach

Access

From the Wengelsbach pass on the D 190, parking at Wasigenstein, a footpath of the Club Vosgien, signposted with red rectangles, leads to the castle.

References

Ruined castles in Bas-Rhin Monuments historiques of Bas-Rhin Rock castles {{alsace-castle-stub