Baden, Austria
12th century
Graz, Austria
11th century
Rappottenstein, Austria
c. 1150
Hardegg, Austria
12th century
Lockenhaus, Austria
1200
Baden, Austria
12th century
Heinfels, Austria
c. 1243
Laxenburg, Austria
13th century
Seebenstein, Austria
1180-1230
Liezen, Austria
13th century / 1672
Hartberg-Fürstenfeld, Austria
12th century
Griffen, Austria
1124-1146
Mittersill, Austria
12th century
Nauders, Austria
1330
Köttmannsdorf, Austria
12th century
Schönbühel-Aggsbach, Austria
12th century
Golling an der Salzach, Austria
13th century
Finkenstein am Faaker See, Austria
c. 1142
Enns, Austria
900/1565
Klam, Austria
1149
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.