The Château de Kintzheim is a

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 Kintzheim 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 dating from the 12th century. The ruin of the castle dominate the village of Kintzheim.

History

Kintzheim was known in the 6th century under the name of Regis Villa. The

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

kings had made it into the center of a vast domain including the valley of the Liepvre River and the forests of Haut-Koenigsbourg. *In 774, the emperor

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

made a gift to the Abbey of Liepvre of one part of his forests at Gunigesheim (the former name of Kintzheim). *In 775, Charlemagne spent the Christmas holidays in the ''Palatium selestatis'', probably located at Kintzheim. *In 843, the Emperor

Lothair I Lothair I (9th. C. Frankish: ''Ludher'' and Medieval Latin: ''Lodharius''; Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German: ''Lothar''; French: ''Lothaire''; Italian: ''Lotario''; 795 – 29 September 855) was a 9th-century emperor of the ...

, the grandson of Charlemagne, gave Kintzheim to Erchangar, the Count of Nordgau and father of Richarde, the future

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

Andlau Andlau ( or ; Alsatian: ''Àndlöi'') is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace, Grand Est region of northeastern France. The village owes its origin to Andlau Abbey which was founded in 880 by Richardis, the empress of Charles the Fa ...

From the 12th to the 16th centuries

The construction of the castle began around 1250 on the order of Emperor

Frederick II of Hohenstaufen Frederick II (, , , ; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusalem from 1225. He was the son of Emperor Henry VI of the Ho ...

. The

keep A keep 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 castles that were fortified residen ...

and the rampart which belongs to it were finished at the end of the 13th century. The residential structures were built during the 14th and the 15th centuries. In 1341, Emperor Louis IV, known as "The Bavarian", gave the village of "Kinsen" to the town of

Sélestat Sélestat (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Schlettstàdt''; German: ''Schlettstadt'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Grand Est region of France. An administrative division (Subprefectures in France, sous-préfecture) of the Bas-Rhin Depa ...

. In 1492, on the order of Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg, the ''landvogt'' of Alsace, Gaspard de Morimont, sold the castle to the town of

In the 17th and 18th centuries

*In 1633, the castle was partly destroyed by the

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. *In 1649, the town of Sélestat sold the castle for 3,000

florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...

s to

J. G. de Gollen J, or j, is the tenth letter of the English alphabet. J may also refer to: * Palatal approximant in the International Phonetic Alphabet * J, Cyrillic letter Je Astronomy * J, a provisional designation prefix for some objects discovered bet ...

, a former mayor of the town, who had been the minister of Ferdinand III of Habsburg to the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...

, which ended the Thirty Years' War. *Between 1650 and 1670, J. G. de Gollen restored the residential buildings and the chapel, but never actually lived in there. *Between 1760 and 1780, the last resident of the castle was a hermit monk who took care of the chapel.

18th and 19th centuries

Taken care of during the 18th century by J. G. de Gollen, then by the marquis de

Broc Broc (; , locally ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Gruyère (district), Gruyère in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Fribourg (canton), Fribourg in Switzerland. History Broc is first mentioned in 1115 as ...

, his heir, the castle was abandoned following the French Revolution of 1789. The roofs disappeared around 1830. In 1801, the marquis de Broc put it up for sale. The town of Sélestat tried to regain possession of the property. In 1807, a decree of Emperor

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

gave the Château de Kintzheim to Mathieu de Favier, who was obliged to pay 2,000 silver marks to the town of Sélestat to settle their claim.

19th and 20th centuries

In 1802, the future Baron of the Second Empire, Gaetan Mathieu de Fabvier, bought the castle, and below it he built a manor house in the Directory style. Between the two structures he built a park in the English style, which today is classified 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 ...

. as one of the

Notable Gardens of France The Remarkable Gardens of France is intended to be a list and description, by region, of the more than three hundred gardens classified as ''"Jardins remarquables"'' by the Ministry of Culture (France), Ministry of Culture and the Comi ...

.Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France
Parc des ruines du Château de Kintzheim
He created a romantic landscape garden, or ''jardin tableau'', to highlight the view of the ruined castle, inspired by the paintings of

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...

Claude Lorraine Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in I ...

and

Hubert Robert Hubert Robert (; 22 May 1733 – 15 April 1808) was a French painter in the school of Romanticism, noted especially for his landscape paintings and capricci, or semi-fictitious picturesque depictions of ruins in Italy and of France.Jean de Cayeux ...

. The family of Mathieu de Fabvier was close to the family of a Minister of Finance of France,

Jean-Georges Humann Jean-Georges Humann (6 August 1780 – 25 April 1842) was a French financier and politician. During the July Monarchy (1830–1848) he was several times Minister of Finance. Early years Jean-Georges Humann was born in Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, on 6 ...

(1780-1842), whose descendants later became responsible for preserving the Château de Kintzheim. During the 19th century, the

romantic movement Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

brought medieval castles back into style. Many castles in France were restored by Viollet-le-Duc while in Germany

Bodo Ebhardt Bodo Heinrich Justus Ebhardt (5 January 1865, Bremen – 13 February 1945 at Marksburg near Braubach) was a German architect, architectural historian, castle explorer, and founder and longtime president of the German Castles Association (''Deuts ...

restored many castles, including the castle of Haut-Koenigsbourg, inaugurated by the Emperor

William II of Germany Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty's ...

in 1908. In 1876, German architects carried out a consolidation of the ruins of Kintzheim. *In 1945, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

battle for Alsace, the castle was used as an observation post, and the tower was hit by artillery shells. *In 1965, the ruins were 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, ...

'' by the Ministry of Culture. *In 1968, "The Eagle's Nest" was installed at the ruins, and became a tourist attraction drawing about 150,000 visitors each year.

The Château de Kintzheim today

Since 1968, the castle features "La volerie des aigles" (Eng: The Eagles' Nest), which presents species of predatory birds, such as

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...

s and

vultures A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

, which are in danger of extinction. Spectators can attend daily flights of the birds.

References

External links

*
Volerie des aigles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kintzheim, Chateau De Ruined castles in Bas-Rhin Gardens in Bas-Rhin Monuments historiques of Bas-Rhin