Haut-Koenigsbourg, atop Alsace’s Vosges Mountains

WHERE GUMBO WAS #238

The castle of Haut Koenigsbourg is an improbable bastion on top of the Vosges mountains, looking down over the plain of the Rhine river, looking across Alsace to Germany’s Black Forest. And it can be seen from miles away.

Over the past 1200 years, its spot in the clouds has been home to a church and monastery, a pawn in royal wars, a pirate lair, an artillery post, a fantasy castle and hunting lodge for Kaiser Wilhelm, and for the past century or so, one of Alsace’s prime tourism attractions.

In the lower court, a visitor examines a scale model of the complex.

George G, GarryRF and PortMoresby were able to identify it from the clues. Congratulations to them!

The castle is build directly onto the rocks

We visited the castle as the last stop of an all-day tour of Alsatian towns, heading south from Strasbourg to Colmar, Eguisheim, Hunawihr and Riquewihr.

The first mention of a building on the site came in 774, when Charlemagne, king of the Franks, deeded it to the Paris-area Basilica of Saint-Denis, which established a monastery there. The deed was renewed 80 years later.

The mass and complexity of the site is almost overwhelming.

But all was not peaceful ever after on the mountaintop. In 1147, the monks complained to Louis VII of France that Duke Conrad of Swabia, brother and father of Holy Roman Emperors, had invaded their space and built a castle. Their complaint apparently fell on deaf ears.

Very much a fortress as well as a resident, there are weapons and multiple small drawbridges

After passing through two other noble families, by the mid-15^th century it was in the hands of ‘robber barons,’ who were minor nobles with lands along the river. Most were authorized to collect tolls on river traffic, although some were not. But they used their forts and castles along the river to collect higher-than-allowed tolls, and sometimes to hold boats and people hostage.

Preparing for siege: The castle has both well and cisterns to store water

That obviously annoyed the growing merchant towns along the river, and, together with larger landowners, they acted against the robbers, seizing and destroying their castles and forts. Haut-Kronenbourg suffered that fate in 1462, when the combined forces of the towns of Strasbourg, Colmar and Basel seized the castle and burned it.

A few years later, the Habsburg emperors gave the ruin to the Thierstein family, which rebuilt it as an artillery fort, able to fire its cannons down at any enemy forces coming up the valley. When the family died out, the castle returned to the emperor’s portfolio. Just over a century later, in the Thirty Years War, the castle was taken by Swedish troops after a 52-day siege. The Swedes burnt and looted, according to the custom of the times, and that was pretty much that for Haut-Koenigsbourg until the 20^th century.

In 1862, France, which had ruled the area since the 1680s, made the ruins a historic monument, and sold it to the nearby town of Selestat. Less than ten years later, after the Franco-Prussian war the area was annexed to Germany, and Kaiser Wilhelm decided to mark his terrirtory by rebuilding Marienburg in the east, and Hohkönigsburg, its German name, in the west.

Kaiser Wilhelm’s Hohenzollern family arms above the door

The job was turned over to an architect, Bobo Ebhardt, who had experience in restoring castles, a popular pursuit in romantic-minded times. At a cost that can only be imagined—it included building new roads and even an elevator to carry stones and more to the tops—and after eight years of construction on the mountaintop, the castle was opened with elaborate ceremony in May 1908. Even torrential rains didn’t disrupt the ceremony.

The 1890s family quarters are fairly dark and ponderous, meant to suggest an ancient hunting lodge.

Wilhelm visited regularly, although never for long. In 1918, when Alsace returned to France, it became property of the state, and eventually a museum. Like King Ludwig of Bavaria with his fantastic castles, perhaps the Kaiser deserves a place among the founders of tourism. Haut Koenigsbourg is one of the most popular attractions in the area.

Elaborate stoves and fake fireplaces were installed for heating

For movie fans: parts of Jean Renoir’s 1937 film Grand Illusion” were filmed there. And for fans of the absurd: Near Kuala Lumpur, a developer has built a replica of Colmar, and a copy of Haut-Koenigsbourg that is actually a ‘wellness resort.’

If you plan to visit: It’s in the middle of nowhere as far as public transportation is concerned. You either drive, or go with a tour. Many tours are available from nearby cities. We found ours from locally-based Ophorus Tours through Viator. Our guide was excellent and knowledgeable.