France · 12th century
Château de Hohenbourg ranks #4,529 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #378 of the 787 mapped in France. Founded c. 1200, it is older than 75% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 763 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,176 times in the last 60 days, more than 55% of the atlas. 28 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Kaiserslautern, 43 km away. It is one of the 63 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Alsace. It is stop 1 of 32 on the Alsace castle route, Wissembourg to Mulhouse. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
The Château de Hohenbourg is a ruined castle in the commune of Wingen, in the Bas-Rhin département of France. It has been listed since 1898 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.
The castle is partly built within the rock and dates to the mid-13th century. Its origins remain obscure; the first known occupants were the Pullers, known as the Hohenbourgs. Some of their seigneuries were common to the Fleckensteins, a cause of frequent rivalries. The castle was restored at the beginning of the 16th century.
In 1680, the castle was destroyed by the armies of Joseph de Montclar on the orders of Louis XIV.
The artillery tower is a fine example of early 16th century military architecture. Also from this period is a beautiful Renaissance doorway.
From the terrace the panorama takes in the Northern Vosges and the Palatinate.
The castle can be reached from the village of Lembach along the road to Bitche and the frontier road, and finally a forest route as far as Gimbelhof. From there, a path has been constructed by the Vosges Club (Club Vosgien) marked by white lozenges in red circles.
Text adapted from “Château de Hohenbourg” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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