The Château de Lutzelhardt is a 13th-century

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

Obersteinbach Obersteinbach () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following is a list of the 514 communes of the Bas-Rhin department of France. The communes ...

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 collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety- ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. It is remarkable in that parts of it are actually built into the rock (''semi-troglodytic'').

History

According to studies by B. Metz and T. Biller, the first mention of the castle goes back to 1250. This date certainly corresponds with the approximate date of its construction by the Lutzelhardt family, after who the castle is named. The Lutzelhardts, who were ''

Vögte During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

'' of

Wasselonne Wasselonne (; ) is a commune based in the Bas-Rhin department in north-eastern France, more precisely, in the Grand Est region. The oldest firm of unleavened bread in France: Etablissements René Neymann, is located in this town. Population G ...

, sold the castle in 1363 to the Fleckensteins. It was burnt in 1397 by the troops of the city of Strasbourg, taken by assault in 1462 by the troops of

Wissembourg Wissembourg (; South Franconian: ''Weisseburch'' ; German: ''Weißenburg'' ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It is situated on the little river Lauter close to the border between France and Germany ...

and was certainly repaired by 1469. The exact date of its abandonment is not known, but it was recorded as a ruin in 1538.

Description

The castle is built on an outcrop of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

, twenty metres (~65 ft) high and sixty metres (~195 ft) long. At its feet, on the south-east, is the lower courtyard. On the highest part of the rock are the remains of a small square

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 ...

, with dressed stones, and the remains of a residence along the eastern edge of the rock. The north wall still stands to the height of the ground floor. The other parts of the castle are slightly lower. They consist of a cistern, a well or second cistern, and traces of various buildings. In the lower courtyard there are remnants of sections of the curtain wall with the doorway on one side and mounds on the other, two massive cellars cut into rock (one having been vaulted) and a staircase in the rock giving access to the castle proper. On the opposite side of the castle to the lower courtyard, a ditch has been dug the length of the rock. Further west are remains of walls. The Château de Lutzelhardt has been listed since 1898 as a '' monument historique'' 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 ...

. Château fort de Lutzelhardt

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lutzelhardt, Chateau de Ruined castles in Bas-Rhin Monuments historiques of Bas-Rhin Rock castles