The Château de Schœneck 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 ...
situated in the ''
commune'' of
Dambach, in the French ''
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
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 ...
.
History
The castle, probably built at the end of the 13th century, is on a rocky crest at an altitude of 380 m. It was certainly built at the instigation of the
Hohenstaufens
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty ...
for hunting brigands taking refuge in the area. Destroyed around 1280, it was rebuilt in 1286 and is mentioned in 1287 as the property of the
Bishop of Strasbourg
Archbishops
*Charles Amarin Brand (16 July 1984 – 23 October 1997) (with rank of archbishop from 1988)
*Joseph Doré (23 October 1997 – 25 August 2006)
*Jean-Pierre Grallet (21 April 2007 – 18 February 2017)
*Luc Ravel (18 February 2017 ...
, ally of the
Habsburgs
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
. He entrusted the upkeep to the
Lichtenbergs and pledged its allegiance to Schœneck.
The castle was restored between 1335 and 1390 to adapt it to the progress of
artillery
Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
. It was modernised between 1545 and 1547 by the Exkbrechts of
Durckheim, who had held the
fiefdom
A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...
since 1517. The castle was finally destroyed in 1680 by French troops, on the order 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 ...
and, after the
French Revolution, the ruins were bought by the Dietrich family.
The castle has been listed 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 ...
since 1984.
Description
A small vaulted door and a larger entrance flanked by two 16th century bastions with cannon holes are still visible. The remains of the
manor buildings appear as a
Lombard frieze, notably because of the bay windows on the upper level outside the western curtain wall, with their narrow semi-circular arches. To the west, a rectilinear curtain wall closes the lower courtyard while, in the east, a long wall is flanked by two towers.
The castle has been the subject of consolidation works by the ''association Cunulmergrun'' since 2000.
See also
List of castles in France
This is a list of castles in France, arranged by Regions of France, region and Departments of France, department.
;Notes:
# The French word ''château'' has a wider meaning than the English ''castle'': it includes architectural entities that are p ...
References
External links
Official site of the commune of Dambach*
Bibliography
* Maurice Frey ''Chronique des fouilles médiévales. Dambach-Neunhoffen, Château de Schoeneck'' 1983
* Ecole d'architecture, Strasbourg ''Le château de Schoeneck, Chantiers 1981/1984'' 1984
* BILGER, Bertrand-L ''Schoeneck ou les ambitions des Durckheim'' 1991
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoeneck, Chateau de
Ruined castles in Bas-Rhin
Monuments historiques of Bas-Rhin
Rock castles