Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg
This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2017) |
The Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg (French:
History
The
Middle Ages
It is not known when the first castle was built. However, a Burg Staufen (Castrum Estufin) is documented in 1147, when the monks complained to
In the early
In 1479, the Habsburg emperor Frederick III granted the castle ruins in fief to the Counts of Thierstein, who rebuilt them with a defensive system suited to the new artillery of the time. When in 1517 the last Thierstein died, the castle became a reverted fief and again came into the possession of the Habsburg emperor of the day, Maximilian I. In 1633, during the Thirty Years' War in which Catholics forces fought Protestants, the Imperial castle was besieged by Protestant Swedish forces. After a 52-day siege, the castle was burned and looted by the Swedish troops. For several hundred years it was left unused, and the ruins became overgrown by the forest. Various romantic poets and artists were inspired by the castle during this time.
19th century renovation
The ruins had been listed as a
Ebhardt's aim was to rebuild it, as near as possible, as it was on the eve of the Thirty Years' War. He relied heavily on historical accounts but, occasionally lacking information, he had to improvise some parts of the stronghold. For example, the Keep tower is now reckoned to be about 14 metres too tall. Wilhelm II, who regularly visited the construction site via a specially built train station in nearby Saint-Hippolyte, also encouraged certain modifications that emphasised a Romantic nostalgia for Germanic civilization. For example, the main dining hall has a higher roof than it did at the time, and links between the Hohenzollern family and the Habsburg rulers of the Holy Roman Empire are emphasized. The Emperor wanted to legitimise the House of Hohenzollern at the head of the Second Empire, and to assure himself as worthy heir of the Hohenstaufens and the Habsburgs.
The castle today
After World War I, the French state confiscated the castle in accordance with the 1919 Treaty of Versailles.
It has been listed since 1862 and classified since 1993 as a Today, it is one of the most famous tourist attractions in the region.
For many years it was considered fashionable in France to sneer at the castle because of its links to the German emperor. Many considered it to be nothing more than a fairy tale castle similar to Neuschwanstein. However, in recent years many historians have established that, although it is not a completely accurate reconstruction, it is at least interesting for what it shows about Wilhelm II's romantic nationalist ideas of the past and the architect's work. Indeed, Bodo Ebhardt restored the castle following a close study of the remaining walls, archives and other fortified castles built at the same period.
Parts of the 1937 film La Grande Illusion by Jean Renoir were shot at Haut-Koenigsbourg.
Château de l'Oedenbourg
Located just below Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg is the ruin of Château de l'Oedenbourg,[3] which is also known as Petit-Koenigsbourg and is a historical monument in its own right.[4] Construction of Château de l'Oedenbourg is believed to have begun during the thirteenth century.
Copy in Malaysia
A copy of the castle has been built in the Berjaya Hills, 60 kilometres (37 mi) north-east of Kuala Lumpur 3°24′15″N 101°50′21″E / 3.404167°N 101.839155°E.[5] A copy of the historic Alsatian city of Colmar is located next to it.[6]
See also
References
- ^ a b Base Mérimée: Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg (ou Hohenkoenigsbourg), Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Base Mérimée: Château fort dit Château fort de Haut Koenigsbourg, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Château de l'Oedenbourg on Google Maps
- ^ Château de l'Oedenbourg in Base Mérimée (in French)
- ^ "China hat jetzt ein Schlosshotel Neuschwanstein" [China now has a Neuschwanstein Castle Hotel]. Die Welt (in German). September 26, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
- ^ Moreau, Caroline. "Le saviez-vous ? Colmar a sa copie en Malaisie" [Did you know? Colmar has its copy in Malaysia]. France 3 Grand Est (in French). Retrieved 23 April 2023.
Sources
- Monique Fuchs and Bernhard Metz, The Castle of Haut Koenigsbourg, éd du Patrimoine, Paris, 2001.
External links
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 340.
- (in French and English) Official website
- (in English) Castle history and access
- Base Mérimée: Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg 1, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- Base Mérimée: Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg 2, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- Photos of the castle on Google Images
- The castle has a Facebook page