France · 13th century
Château de Reichenstein (Reichenstein Castle) is a ruined castle in the commune of Riquewihr, in the department of Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France. It has been a listed historical monument since 1990.
The ruin lies in the valley of the Sambach (a local brook). The ruin is near to Château de Bilstein, another castle ruin.
The castle was built for the knights of Reichenstein somewhere before 1255 (when it was first mentioned). The knights of Reichenstein were a family of robber barons (Chevaliers Voleurs in French, it is argued that they were also known as Rheinstein in Germany). This castle was ruined in 1265 by the militia's of Strasbourg and Colmar on the orders of Rudolf of Habsburg, as a reprisal, supposedly because the Reichensteins interfered with the local trade. The castle was never rebuilt.
Because of their activities a similar fate befell some of their other properties, after the creation of the Hanseatic League.
Because the tower is the most prominent part of the ruin, which is near Riquewihr, the castle is sometimes called "La Tour de Riquewihr" and marked on maps as such.
The castle is not to be confused with the eponymous castle in Kientzheim. Reichenstein Castle in Arlesheim, Switzerland.
Reichenstein Castle in Trechtingshausen, Germany, also raised on the orders of Rudolf of Habsburg. Reichenstein Castle in Neckargemünd, Germany.
The family known as the Reich von Reichenstein also held Château de Landskron in France and Inzlingen Castle (also known as Schloss Reichenstein) in Germany.
Text adapted from “Château de Reichenstein, Riquewihr” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Château de Reichenstein ranks #7,531 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #712 of the 793 mapped in France. Founded 1225, it is older than 73% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. 17 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Colmar, 12 km away. It is one of the 63 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Alsace. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
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