Frankenstein, Germany
c. 1100
Dahn, Germany
1230-1240
Lambrecht, Germany
c. 1330
Stromberg, Germany
11th century
Grimburg, Germany
c. 1190
Annweiler, Germany
12th century
Annweiler, Germany
11th century
Kobern-Gondorf, Germany
1859-1960
Altenahr, Germany
14th century
Lambrecht, Germany
13th century
Höhr-Grenzhausen, Germany
c. 1210
Battenberg, Germany
13th century
Lambrecht, Germany
12th century
Bacharach, Germany
12th century
Hallgarten, Germany
c. 1200
Rheindiebach, Germany
1219
Welschbillig, Germany
13th century
Bernkastel-Kues, Germany
12th century
Vorderweidenthal, Germany
1150-1200
Wilgartswiesen, 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.