Klingenmünster, Germany
c. 1200
Brodenbach, Germany
12th century
Wasgau, Germany
12th century
Busenberg, Germany
12th century
Wachenheim, Germany
12th century
Eschbach, Germany
11th century
Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg, Germany
1338
Bad Dürkheim, Germany
13th century
Sankt Goarshausen, Germany
c. 1371
Niederheimbach, Germany
13th century
Bendorf, Germany
12th century
Herrstein, Germany
13th century
Kaub, Germany
1220
Kamp-Bornhofen, Germany
11th century
Bingen am Rhein, Germany
968 AD / 1855
Gerolstein, Germany
12th century
Rittersdorf, Germany
13th century
Kirchen, Germany
c. 1100
Morbach, Germany
c. 1320
Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg, Germany
11th century
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.