Explore the historic highlights of Bergen
Bergen, Norway
14th century
Bergen, Norway
c. 1181
Bergen, Norway
1870
Bergen, Norway
1130s
Bergen, Norway
1066-1093
Bergen, Norway
1240s
Bergen, Norway
12th century
Bergen, Norway
1825
Bergen, Norway
1181
Bergen, Norway
1891-1894
Bergen, Norway
1621
Bergen, Norway
1666-1667
Bergen, Norway
1150
Bergen, Norway
1720
The Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg is situated in a strategic area on a rocky spur overlooking the Upper Rhine Plain, it was used by successive powers from the Middle Ages until the Thirty Years' War when it was abandoned. From 1900 to 1908 it was rebuilt at the behest of the German kaiser Wilhelm II. Today it is a major tourist site, attracting more than 500,000 visitors a year.
The first records of a castle built by the Hohenstaufens date back to 1147. The fortress changed its name to Koenigsburg (royal castle) around 1157. The castle was handed over to the Tiersteins by the Habsburgs following its destruction in 1462. They rebuilt and enlarged it, installing a defensive system designed to withstand artillery fire.
The fortification work accomplished over the 15th century did not suffice to keep the Swedish artillery at bay during the Thirty Years War, and the defences were overrun.