The Château du Hugstein was built in 1227 by Hugo (Hugues) de Rothenbourg, abbot prince of Murbach from 1216 to 1236. It was constructed between the communes of Buhl and Guebwiller, to defend both the Murbach Abbey and the entrance to the Florival valley.
In 1313, the abbot Conrad Wiedergrun de Stauffenberg consecrated the castle chapel to the Holy Cross and Saint Benoît. Abbot Barthélémy d'Andlau modernised the castle during the 15th century, notably adding a gate tower decorated with a frieze and equipped with a drawbridge (visible in the photo).
Two new towers were also added to the defensive system of the castle even though its principal role had become residential. Georges de Masevaux continued with the restoration but died in 1542. The castle then became the subject of a quarrel about succession between Henri de Jestetten and his cousin Rodolphe Stoer de Stoerenbourg, abbot of Honcourt and Capitulary of Murbach. The latter finally won, but the fortress suffered from the affair. In 1598, the castle was struck by lightning. At the start of the 17th century, it was used as a prison, particularly for Lutherans and witches, of whom it is said that some were burned in front of the castle. Abandoned, it provided shelter for the poor before finally being used as a stone quarry. The stone which built the castle was extracted from the moat which surrounded it.
The cylindrical keep, 10 m in diameter, is comparatively rare in Alsace. The higher part of the keep was removed when the site served as a quarry.
The main corps de logis had two or, indeed, three floors giving the building a certain magnificence. The Gothic keystone to the chapel vault, decorated with an Easter lamb, is displayed at the Florival Museum (Musée Théodore Deck) in Guebwiller
The defences consisted of ramparts rounded at the corners, designed to create an illusion to attackers that the castle was equipped with cylindrical towers.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.