The Château d'Andlau is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

ruined

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

in the '' commune'' of Andlau, in the

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin () is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lower altitude among the two French Rhine departments: it is downstream of the Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhine) de ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is a recognized

historical monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

since 1926. Château fort de Haut Andlau

History

Constructed on a narrow

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

outcrop at an altitude of 451 m (~1466 ft), the ''Haut-Andlau'' dominates the

valleys A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ve ...

of Andlau and Kirneck. The castle was built from granite blocks, certainly by Eberhard d'Andlau between 1246 and 1264. In 1678, after the joining of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

to France, it was pillaged by the troops of maréchal de Créquy. The castle stayed in the hands of the Counts of Andlau until the French Revolution and served afterwards as a residence for a gamekeeper in the service of the family. Confiscated as a national asset, it was sold in 1796 to a merchant who, from 1806 and, with no apparent public opposition, began to sell the castle piece by piece. In 1818, Antoine-Henri d'Andlau bought the ruin and saved it from destruction. Repair work was carried out in 1856. The castle was classified as a ''

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 collection of buildings, ...

'' (historic monument) in 1926 and was reinforced in 1927-1928 with a restoration campaign launched on the initiative of the Vosges Club (''Club Vosgien''). It still belongs to the Andlau family.

The building

The castle is on two levels. The higher part is built on a narrow ridge approximately 25 m wide and 80 m long (~81 by 260 ft), orientated south-south-west to north-north-east. It consists of a long residential building flanked at each end by circular towers about 10 m (~33 ft) in diameter. The castle was built in one piece; only the lower court has been altered (in the 16th century). Like the neighbouring Château du Spesbourg, the building material was granite excavated on site. To the east, a steep mountainside provides a natural defence while on the other sides, a wide, deep moat cut into the rock isolates and protects the site.

References

External links

Association of the Friends of Andlau

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andlau, Chateau de Buildings and structures completed in 1264 Ruined castles in Bas-Rhin Monuments historiques of Bas-Rhin

History

The building

See also

References

External links