France · 13th century
The Château de Spesbourg is a ruined castle that dominates the valley above the village of Andlau, in the Bas-Rhin department of France.
The castle was constructed between 1246 and 1250 by Alexander of Stahleck-Dicka, Vogt to Andlau Abbey. In 1386 it became the property of the family von Andlau. In the 16th century angry locals set fire to the castle after one of the lords seduced a village girl. The castle fell into ruin after the Thirty Years' War.
In 1967 it was registered with the national Inventory of Historic Buildings by the French Ministry of Culture.
Text adapted from “Château de Spesbourg” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Château de Spesbourg ranks #6,983 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #642 of the 793 mapped in France. Founded 1246, it is older than 71% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. 22 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Strasbourg, 32 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.
View on the interactive castle map →