Forest path and other Orschwiller, France Things to Do Tips

The access to the Haut Kœnigsbourg castle is by a wide mountain road departing from Kintzheim. We visited on a Sunday in February while school children were on vacation (Winter vacation). At the beginning of the afternoon, we found that cars were parked on both sides of the road, beginning almost 1 km away from the castle. The road is wide enough to allow that but do not be surprised if you did the same! We parked and proceeded to walk to the castle. You can either walk on the road, which is the most comfortable or take one of the several wide paths that follow more or less the road. We chose the path, which was by far more scenic!

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When getting closer to the castle, it begins to appear between the trees and the sight is impressive as it stands high over the path which in the end, follows closely its walls.

There was already a castle on this site in the 12th century. The oldest walls date back from 1147. It became the home of robber knights and destroyed in 1462. In the 15th, the Thierstein family got it and built a larger castle. The Swedes destroyed it in 1633. It remained as ruins until the 19th, when the city of Sélestat bought it in 1865. They tried to rebuild it but they were unable to raise enough money. In 1870, Alsace was taken by Germany. When Emperor Guillaume II visited the city, the Council, that knew how much he loved romantic castles offered it as a gift. He fell in love with the castle, hired an architect who was at the same time an archeologist, Bodo Ebhardt. He was granted an unlimited amount of money and that was able in a little as seven years to rebuild the castle almost as it was in the 15th!

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To reach the main entrance, you must walk along the foot of the castle’s wall, standing on the left (first photo). No enemy could reach the entrance unnoticed (unharmed!)! Moreover, the entrance is flanked on its right by a powerful tower that would finish the job of getting rid of any assailant (second photo). Even more, if you look closely t the photo, you will see that a second entrance stands a little further!

The third photo is a close up on the coat of arm carved on top of the entrance. It shows an animal (thier) standing on a stone (stein), hence Thierstein.

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The first photo shows the entrance into the second wall of the castle. It is framed with a dozen machicolations that protect the entrance

The second photo shows the coats of arm of the Hohenzollern family (family of Wilhelm II) and of the Habsbourg family (family of Charles V), a symbol that shows the continuity between these two families.

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The lower yard (or main yard) is framed with the inn, the forge and the entrance into the inner castle and the Thierstein home. It is topped again with the coat of arm of the Thierstein family. I am unable to say what is the animal: horse, ship or else!

We were not granted the right to visit the inner part of the castle as we had our dog with us and dogs are not allowed inside. Note that until this point the visit is free. You have to pay only to go further.

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On the left, a low wooden door is strengthened with imposing iron bars. Two tiny holes secured with strong grids allow to check who was coming. That must have been a servant’s back door but nevertheless, it is not really welcoming and unfriendly visitors, if ever they had reached this point, were very unlikely to be admitted inside.
On top, a laying dog is carved with something in its mouth.

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The first photo shows the tower that makes the entrance into the inner castle and the Thierstein home.

The second photo shows the mill that allowed to ground wheat and make bread. The wings of the mill can be seen on top.

The third photo shows better the mill itself, a small wooden structure on top the roof.

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In the center of the main yard stands a fountain. It gets its water from a spring but as we visited in winter, in order to avoid icing, the people in charge had diverted the water and nothing was flowing out of the mouth of the grotesques!

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At first, I felt that this was a perfect example of “oeil-de-boeuf” (bull’s eye) as it actually looks much alike a bull’s eye but soon realized that it could not be named that way : a bull’s eye is a round window. This should be then a machicolation of a special shape. There are several example of the same in Haut-Kœnigsbourg but I had never seen any elsewhere.

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The main bastion stands south to the entrance and protects the castle from any attack from the other end of the rocky spur.

The first photo shows the main wall.

The second photo shows the corner of the main wall, topped by a turret.

The third photo shows the full south side of the castle with its two strong towers.

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