The Château du Vieux Windstein is a ruined castle

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 Windstein

Windstein

Windstein 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

The first documented mention of the château de Windstein is dated 1205. It was built at the end of the 12th century by the Hohenstaufens to protect their imperial palace at Haguenau

Haguenau

-Economy:The town has a well balanced economy. Centuries of troubled history in the buffer lands between France and Germany have bequeathed to Haguenau a rich historical and cultural heritage which supports a lively tourist trade. There is also a thriving light manufacturing sector centred on the...

. The castle was a fief of the Empire, in the possession of the Windstein family, and was built in two periods, though dates are not known. Later, the castle was split in two with the lords of Sickingen and Schmalenstein each owning a part. Some buildings were constructed in the 13th century but it later became a haunt of brigands and was razed in 1332, following a conflict with the city of Strasbourg

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,...

. Despite a ban on rebuilding, it was rebuilt again during the course of the 14th century. Burned in 1515, it passed into the possession of the Durkheims. The castle was finally ruined at the end of the 17th century, destroyed by the artillery of general Montclar

Montclar

Montclar may refer to the following places:* Montclar, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, a commune in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France* Montclar, Aude, a commune in the department of Aude, France...

 in 1676 during the wars against Louis XIV.

Description

The castle is on top of a narrow sandstone outcrop. It comprises two groups of buildings, separated by a ditch formed from an old fault enlarged when the castle was divided. There are a number of troglodytic (built into the rock) elements.

Access to the lower courtyard of the southern castle is by a stone staircase cut into the rock. A house has been built on the site of the common buildings. A platform has been laid out, half way up the rock, preceded by cave rooms and a cistern. There is a 41 metres (~135 ft) deep well cut into the rock. The foundations of a Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 chapel are visible. On the summit, traces exist of a 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...

.

On the northern summit are remains of parts of a wall (late 13th, early 14th century), the only remnants of a keep built to oppose the south castle. This part also has vestiges of a large habitable tower, as well as parts of a manor house (13th/14th centuries).

The Château du Vieux Windstein is 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.

External links

• Ministry of Culture database entry for Château du Vieux Windstein
• Pictures from Alt-Windstein on historische-orte.de

Source

• French Ministry of Culture database, accessed 21 March 2007