Linz am Rhein, Germany
13th century
Bitburg-Prüm, Germany
14th century
Dalberg, Germany
1150-1170
Rümmelsheim, Germany
12th century
Neuwied, Germany
c. 1170
Eitelborn, Germany
11th century
Reichenberg, Germany
14th century
Kaub, Germany
14th century
Obernhof, Germany
13th century
Hunsrück-Mittelrhein, Germany
1332
Boppard, Germany
c. 1200
Bad Kreuznach, Germany
13th century
Lauterecken-Wolfstein, Germany
1160-1170
Lauterecken-Wolfstein, Germany
13th century
Nordpfälzer Land, Germany
12th century
Lambrecht, Germany
1246
Lemberg, Germany
13th 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.