France · 13th century
Château du Hohlandsbourg ranks #4,497 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #375 of the 787 mapped in France. Founded 1279, it is older than 64% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 1091 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,202 times in the last 60 days, more than 56% of the atlas. 17 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Colmar, 7 km away. It is one of the 63 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Alsace. It is stop 29 of 32 on the Alsace castle route, Wissembourg to Mulhouse. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
The Château du Hohlandsbourg or Hohlandsberg is a ruined castle in the commune of Wintzenheim, near Colmar, in the Haut-Rhin département of France. It is open to the public between Easter and 11 November.
The construction of the castle, on the order of the Provost of Colmar, Siegfried de Gundolsheim, dates from 1279. The site, 620 m above sea level, allowed for surveillance of Colmar and its region. In 1281, the townspeople of Colmar revolted and set fire to the castle with the help of the Bailiff, Otton d'Ochenstein.
The castle came under the control of the Ensisheims before being given in 1410 as a fiefdom to the Ribeaupierres, then Counts of Lupfen, who enlarged it. In the 16th century, the castle belonged to Lazarus von Schwendi, general of the Holy Roman Empire, who, it is said, brought Tokay vines from Hungary to Alsace. He enlarged and strengthened the castle.
With Alsace becoming French at the end of the Thirty Years' War, the castle welcomed troops who blew it up in 1637 to prevent it falling into the hands of an Austrian army.
It has been listed since 1840 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. The castle was restored during the 1990s to become a cultural and historical centre.
Text adapted from “Château du Hohlandsbourg” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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