Kirn, Germany
12th century
Annweiler, Germany
1212-1232
Altenahr, Germany
c. 1100
Kamp-Bornhofen, Germany
13th century
Neuerburg, Germany
12th century
Wellmich, Germany
1356
Cochem, Germany
c. 1240
Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany
13th century
Alzey, Germany
13th century
Niederheimbach, Germany
1294
Roes, Germany
12th century
Gerolstein, Germany
12th century
Virneburg, Germany
12th century
Kobern-Gondorf, Germany
12th century
Isenburg, Germany
c. 1100
Lahnstein, Germany
1324
Schönecken, Germany
1230
Alf, Germany
c. 936 AD
Prümer Burg, Germany
12th century
Hamm, Germany
14th 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.