The Château du Wasigenstein (German: Burg Wasigenstein) 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 ...

in the '' commune'' of Niedersteinbach 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.

History

The site was first known as the centre of the German legend of

Waltharius ''Waltharius'' is a Latin epic poem founded on German popular tradition relating the exploits of the Visigothic hero Walter of Aquitaine. While its subject matter is taken from early medieval Germanic legend, the epic stands firmly in the Lati ...

in the 10th century. Two castles were built here in the 13th century each dependent on the other. The complex initially occupied only the eastern part of the castle rock, but was expanded from 1299 and supplemented by a second castle complex on the western part of the rock. Since then, it has been a double castle. The shares in both were held by members of the various lines of the von Wasigenstein family until the middle of the 14th century. When the male line died out, the property passed through heir daughters to the and . They sold their rights to the property piece by piece, or passed parts on as fiefdoms, so that there was a strong fragmentation of ownership. Within 83 years, it was besieged and conquered a total of seven times. The castle, which was probably very dilapidated afterwards, was given up as a residence in the 15th or 16th century. It was damaged by fire in 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 European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine, or disease, whil ...

and was completely destroyed in the War of the Palatinate Succession and has been in ruins ever since. The castle is state property and has been listed since 1898 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 ...

Key points

* at ''Grand-Wasigenstein'', the former cistern, 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 ...

, well-built rooms, etc. * at ''Petit-Wasigenstein'', a habitable keep with a thick walls, an enormous windlass capable of lifting considerable loads * access stairways cut into the rock: a monumental architectural work provided a steep ascent to the summits * a rift fault, separating the two castles ("the fault of Walther") * erosion on the south face of the rocky outcrop * a viewpoint over the Langenbach valley and towards Obersteinbach

Access

From the Wengelsbach pass on the D 190, parking at Wasigenstein, a footpath of the Club Vosgien, signposted with red rectangles, leads to the castle.

References

Ruined castles in Bas-Rhin Monuments historiques of Bas-Rhin Rock castles {{Coord, 49, 2, 52, N, 7, 42, 6, E, region:FR_type:landmark, display=title

History

Key points

Access

See also

References