Château du Nideck
Encyclopedia
The Château du Nideck is a ruined castle
located in the commune
of Oberhaslach
in the Bas-Rhin
département of France
.
Situated on the heights of the road from Oberhaslach to Wangenbourg
, the castle was first mentioned in a charter
in 1264, as the property of sire Bourckard, burgrave
of Nideck. In 1336 there is mention of a second castle, below the first, fief of the Bishop of Strasbourg and held by the landgrave
s of Basse-Alsace
.
Nideck then became the property of the seigneurs
of the region, in the 14th and 15th centuries, according to the various regional conflicts and other events of the time. It was besieged by the Strasbourgeois
in 1448. The Müllenheim family took possession of the castle and kept it until 1509. It was finally destroyed by a fire in 1636.
The castle overlooks the Nideck waterfall and is easily reached on foot. The castle has been listed since 1898 by the French Ministry of Culture as a monument historique
and is owned by the state.
. This story inspired the poet Adalbert von Chamisso to write Das Riesenfräulein (The Giant's Daughter). The tale relates how the castle was inhabited by a couple of giants and their little daughter. Bored one day, she walked as far as the Alsace
plains and found what she took to be some living toys. Once returned to the castle, her father explained to her that they were men and that they must be left in their place because they cultivated the land to feed the giants.
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...
located 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 Oberhaslach
Oberhaslach
Oberhaslach is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
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
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
History
Wangenbourg-Engenthal
Wangenbourg-Engenthal is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.The commune is not a single settlement, but rather an administrative unit comprising the following eight mountain hamlets:...
, the castle was first mentioned in a charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
in 1264, as the property of sire Bourckard, burgrave
Burgrave
A burgrave is literally the count of a castle or fortified town. The English form is derived through the French from the German Burggraf and Dutch burg- or burch-graeve .* The title is originally equivalent to that of castellan or châtelain, meaning keeper of a castle and/or fortified town...
of Nideck. In 1336 there is mention of a second castle, below the first, fief of the Bishop of Strasbourg and held by the landgrave
Landgrave
Landgrave was a title used in the Holy Roman Empire and later on by its former territories. The title refers to a count who had feudal duty directly to the Holy Roman Emperor...
s of Basse-Alsace
Basse-Alsace
Unterelsaß was the name for a district in the northern part of Elsaß-Lothringen when it was part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918.The capital of the district was Straßburg...
.
Nideck then became the property of the seigneurs
Lord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
of the region, in the 14th and 15th centuries, according to the various regional conflicts and other events of the time. It was besieged by the Strasbourgeois
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
in 1448. The Müllenheim family took possession of the castle and kept it until 1509. It was finally destroyed by a fire in 1636.
The castle overlooks the Nideck waterfall and is easily reached on foot. The castle has been listed since 1898 by the French Ministry of Culture 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...
and is owned by the state.
The Legend of Nideck
In 1816 the legend of Nideck joined the fairy tales of the Brothers GrimmBrothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
. This story inspired the poet Adalbert von Chamisso to write Das Riesenfräulein (The Giant's Daughter). The tale relates how the castle was inhabited by a couple of giants and their little daughter. Bored one day, she walked as far as the Alsace
Alsace
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...
plains and found what she took to be some living toys. Once returned to the castle, her father explained to her that they were men and that they must be left in their place because they cultivated the land to feed the giants.
