Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg
Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg is one of the narrated stops on the self-guided Colmar audio walking tour in Gingerguide. Plan about ~90 min here. Press play at the spot for its two to three minute story, or ask the AI guide anything about it.
- Type castle
- Suggested visit ~90 min
- Colmar Colmar guide
About Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg
A hilltop Vosges castle above the Alsace plain, ruined since a 1633 siege and heavily rebuilt from 1900 to 1908 for Kaiser Wilhelm II by architect Bodo Ebhardt.
The Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg stands on a rocky spur at around 755 metres in the commune of Orschwiller, high in the Vosges above the Alsace plain west of Sélestat. A castle is documented on the site in the twelfth century, and it passed through the Dukes of Lorraine, the Counts of Thierstein and the Habsburgs before Swedish troops burned it after a fifty-two-day siege in 1633, during the Thirty Years' War. It then lay in ruins for over two centuries.
Sélestat bought the ruins in 1865 and, in 1899, gave them to the German Emperor Wilhelm II, Alsace then being part of Germany. From 1900 to 1908 the architect Bodo Ebhardt directed a heavy rebuild, restoring the castle roughly as it stood before the Thirty Years' War while adding romantic touches for the Emperor. Best understood as a Romantic reconstruction, it now draws more than 500,000 visitors a year.
Did you know? Much of Haut-Koenigsbourg is a Romantic reconstruction, rebuilt from 1900 to 1908 under Kaiser Wilhelm II by the castle scholar Bodo Ebhardt, who hid steam engines and electricity behind medieval-looking stonework.
How long should you spend at Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg?
Plan about ~90 min at Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg. That is enough to take it in and hear its narrated story; stay longer if it grabs you. The tour is self-guided, so there is no rush.
Is Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg worth visiting?
Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg is one of the 13 sights the Gingerguide team researched and narrated in Colmar, so it earns a place on a self-guided walk. Its story explains why it matters, and you can ask the AI guide anything the story leaves open.
Nearby stops in Colmar
Sources and further reading
Where to check the facts about Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg and read more:
Day 2 of the Colmar in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg
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