Bruges, Belgium
c. 1240
Antwerp, Belgium
1561-1564
Antwerp, Belgium
1352
Ghent, Belgium
1313
Leuven, Belgium
1425-1497
Mechelen, Belgium
c. 1200
Ypres, Belgium
1304/1933
Mechelen, Belgium
14th century
Aalst, Belgium
1225
Dunkerque, France
1559-1567
Tournai, Belgium
1188
Mons, Belgium
1662-1669
Kortrijk, Belgium
1520
Tongeren, Belgium
1240
Binche, Belgium
16th century
Béthune, France
1346
Boulogne-sur-Mer, France
12th century
Oudenaarde, Belgium
1526–1537
Namur, Belgium
1388
Calais, France
1911-1925
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.