The Château de Wittschlœssel 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 ...

. Dambach: Château fort Wittschloessel The location, a place called Wittschlœssel, means ''small lock'' in German.

History

Built in the 13th century with the name ''"Schmalenstein"'', the castle is more of a guard tower, dominating the valley of

Obersteinbach Obersteinbach () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories ...

. It became a small

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

, completing the security of the nearby

Château de Schœneck The Château de Schœneck is a ruined castle situated in the '' commune'' of Dambach, in the French ''département'' of Bas-Rhin. History The castle, probably built at the end of the 13th century, is on a rocky crest at an altitude of 380 m. I ...

. The only written record of the castle is from 1657 in a description of the limits of sovereignty, the castle being in the possession of the lords of

Lichtenberg Lichtenberg may refer to: Places * Lichtenberg, Austria * Lichtenberg, Bas-Rhin, France * Lichtenberg, Bavaria, Germany * Lichtenberg, Berlin, Germany * Lichtenberg, Mittelsachsen, Saxony, Germany * Lichtenberg (Lausitz), Saxony, Germany * Lichte ...

and later the Eckbrechts of Dürckheim. Destroyed in 1677 along with the Château de Schœneck, little is known of the history of the castle.

Ruins

On a rocky crest (altitude 440 m), nothing remains of the castle apart from ruined

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

walls. The ruin consists of two rocks on the summit of the mountain. Between the two rocks is a ruined room. Holes for beams can be seen in the rocks as well as the partition of a slanting building. The castle is 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 ...

References

External links

Official site of the commune of Dambach
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittschloessel, Chateau de Ruined castles in Bas-Rhin Monuments historiques of Bas-Rhin Rock castles

History

Ruins

See also

References

External links