The Château de Hohenbourg is a 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 Wingen, 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 has been listed since 1898 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, ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

History

The castle is partly built within the rock and dates to the mid-13th century. Its origins remain obscure; the first known occupants were the Pullers, known as the Hohenbourgs. Some of their

seigneurie In English law, seignory or seigniory, spelled ''signiory'' in Early Modern English (; ; ), is the lordship (authority) remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple. '' Nulle terre sans seigneur'' ("No land without a lord") ...

s were common to the Fleckensteins, a cause of frequent rivalries. The castle was restored at the beginning of the 16th century. In 1680, the castle was destroyed by the armies of

Joseph de Montclar Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

on the orders of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

Structure

The artillery tower is a fine example of early 16th century military architecture. Also from this period is a beautiful

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

doorway. From the terrace the panorama takes in the

Northern Vosges The Northern Vosges, also known as the Lower Sandstone Vosges, are a low mountain range in northeastern France located in the departments of Moselle and Bas-Rhin on the border with Germany. Geography Situation The Northern Vosges Massif, c ...

and the Palatinate.

Access

The castle can be reached from the village of

Lembach Lembach is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. Etymology The toponym ''Lembach'' is of Germanic origin, cognate to modern German Lehm, denoting ''clay''. The Germanic hydronym '' *-bak(i)'' enter ...

along the road to

Bitche Bitche (English pronunciation: , ; German and Lorraine Franconian: ) is a commune in Moselle department, in the region of Grand Est in northeastern France. It is the Pays de Bitche's capital city, and the seat of the Canton of Bitche and the ...

and the frontier road, and finally a forest route as far as Gimbelhof. From there, a path has been constructed by the

Vosges Club The Vosges Club ( , officially the ''Fédération du Club Vosgien'', ) is a French rambling organization that covers the Vosges Mountains in the regions of Alsace, eastern Lorraine and the northeastern part of Franche-Comté. History The club ...

(''Club Vosgien'') marked by white lozenges in red circles.

References

External links

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

History

Structure

Access

See also

References

External links