Château de Hohenfels, France

Château de Hohenfels

 

Location: Dambach, Bas- Rhin department  Map

 

History of Château de Hohenfels

Château de Hohenfels is a medieval citadel that stands in a town of Dambach, Bas- Rhin department in France. Château de Hohenfels was built in the late 13th century. Originally it consisted of six floors and was intended as an observation post to monitor possible enemy movements through the road from Lorraine. Castle was badly damaged when it was sacked by troops from Strasbourg and Haguenau. It was further ruined when it was captured in 1525 by the peasants during German Peasants' War. Hohenfels Castle changed several owners including Lords of Durckheim (1517- 42) and Count Philip of Hanau- Lichtenberg who bought it in 1542. Castle was finally captured, burned and demolished by the French forces in 1679.
 
Château de Hohenfels was largely abandoned since then, left to the natural elements to erode whatever locals couldn't carry away. Underground structures that were cut into the natural rock are best preserved parts of the former castle. This includes parts of the draining system, water cistern intended to capture rain water and parts of the defensive structures are still visible today.

 

History

The castle was built at the end of the 13th century and cited for the first time around 1293. It was destroyed for the first time by the troops of Strasbourg and Haguenau in 1423 then a second time during the Peasants' War in 1525. This semi -troglodyte is built on a sandstone entablature separated from the ridge by a dry ditch carved into the rock mass. The castle was made up of six levels and made it possible to monitor the access roads to Lorraine. It was probably altered in the 15th century.

 

Special features still visible

The remains of the old wall closing the farmyard.
The shield wall in embossed stone with a wide border.
The cistern dug in the sandstone and its water inlet system.
All that remains of the farmyard are fragments of walls and a cistern.
The western platform has preserved some remains as well as a room carved into the rock.
The stately home, at the top of the eastern rock, has retained its north wall in cut stone with bosses on three levels.
It is the first castle in Alsace to have been the subject of scientific archaeological excavations.

 

Access

In the village of Dambach, head towards Neunhoffen and take the Club Vosgien trail marked with a yellow cross.