Château du Bernstein
Encyclopedia
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
in the commune
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
of Dambach-la-ville
Dambach
Dambach may refer to:* Dambach, Bas-Rhin, France* Dambach-la-Ville, Bas-Rhin, France* Dambach, Germany, a municipality in Landkreis Birkenfeld, Rhineland-Palatinate* and many others settlements and several streams in Germany...
, in the Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin is a department of France. The name means "Lower Rhine". It is the more populous and densely populated of the two departments of the Alsace region, with 1,079,013 inhabitants in 2006.- History :...
département of France. It is situated at an altitude of 557m (~1810 ft).
Originally, the castle belonged to the Counts of Eguisheim Dabo. After the siege of 1227 it became the property of the bishop of Strasbourg and seat of the episcopal bailiffs until 1580. Abandoned from this date, the buildings fell into ruin.
History
The castle at Bernstein is among the oldest in AlsaceAlsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
. It was first mentioned at the beginning of the 11th century, though the northern surrounding wall can be dated to prehistoric times. The upper castle with keep
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 residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
, manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
and advanced works probably dates from the end of the 12th century and start of the 13th. In the Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
era, the manor house was separated from the keep by a ditch, transformed later into a cistern. Towards the end of the 15th century, the St. Marguerite tower, so called from the name of the chapel there, was built in the rear courtyard. The castle was destroyed in 1789.
Around 1835, Félix Dartein cleared the ground of the lower castle to build a house and some outbuildings which have disappeared.
The remains visible today date from several eras:
- 13th century: keepKeepA 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 residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
, lodging, chapel-tower, outbuildings - 15th century: lower curtain wall, entance gate, underground well
The Château du Bernstein is state property and has been listed as a monument historique
Monument historique
A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...
by the French Ministry of Culture since 1931.
External links
Sources
- Braun, Jean, 1978: Circuit des châteaux forts d'Alsace. Ingersheim: éd. SAEP, collection Delta 2000.
- Pollmann, Bernhard, 2003: Vosges : 50 randonnées sélectionnées dans les Vosges lorraines et alsaciennes. Munich: éd. Rother (cf. circuit n°26, pp. 84–85)
- www.culture.gouv.fr, accessed 1 Jan 2010
- Part of this article was initially translated from this Wikipedia article «fr:Château du Bernstein», specifically from this version.