The Château du Girsberg (also ''Guirsberg'', formerly named ''Petit-Ribeaupierre'') is one of three

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 ...

s (with the

Château de Saint-Ulrich The Château de Saint-Ulrich (also known as Château de Grand-Ribeaupierre or Ulrichsburg) is one of three castles (with the Château du Girsberg, Girsberg and the Château du Haut-Ribeaupierre, Haut-Ribeaupierre) which overlooks the ''Communes ...

and the Haut-Ribeaupierre) which overlook the '' commune'' of

Ribeauvillé Ribeauvillé ( is the French name of Ràppschwihr (), a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was a sub-prefecture of the department until 2015. Geography The town is located around north of Colmar a ...

in the

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (); Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; , . is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine; its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less pop ...

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. It stands at an altitude of 528 m. The Lords of Ribeaupierre built the castle, then named Stein (La Roche), in the 13th century. They rebuilt it after a fire caused by lightning in 1288. In 1304, they gave it to their

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

s, the knights of Guirsberg, from whom the castle took its name. The Guirsbergs kept it until they died out in the 15th century. It was abandoned in the 17th century. The remains currently visible date from several epochs: * 13th century : pentagonal

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 ...

* 14th century : inner court * 15th century :

corps de logis In architecture, a ''corps de logis'' () is the principal or main block, or central building of a mansion, country or manor house, castle, or palace. It contains the rooms of principal business, the state apartments and the ceremonial or formal ...

It has been listed since 1841 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 ...

. Châteaux de Guirsberg, de Haut-Ribeaupierre et de Saint-Ulrich

Gallery

Chateau du Girsberg 3.jpg, Chateau du Girsberg structure File:Girsberg 028.JPG, Château du Girsberg File:Girsberg-0216 02.JPG, Château du Girsberg in the spring File:Girsberg 058.JPG, Château du Girsberg from a distance File:Saint-Ulrich et Girsberg.jpg, Château du Girsberg with

in the foreground File:ChateauDuGirsbergWinkler.jpg, 19th century drawing of Château du Girsberg

References

Bibliography

*Braun, Jean : ''Circuit des châteaux forts d'Alsace'' - Ingersheim : éd. SAEP, 1978 - collection Delta 2000. *Carmona, Christophe & Trendel, Guy : ''Les Châteaux autour de Ribeauvillé et Ricquewihr'' - Sarreguemines : éd. Pierron, 2001 - collection Les Châteaux des Vosges : histoire, architecture, légendes no 7. *Mengus, Nicolas : ''Au temps des châteaux forts en Alsace'' - Strasbourg : éd. Coprur, 2004. Ruined castles in Haut-Rhin Monuments historiques of Haut-Rhin {{Alsace-castle-stub

Gallery

See also

References

Bibliography