Château de Crèvecoeur is a small castle survived to this day practically intact. The inner bailey is protected by the moat, the motte and its curtain wall dating back to the 12th century, slashed with arrow slits. The only way across to the inner bailey, and thus the lord’s dwelling-place, is a single footbridge.
The importance of farming is immediately obvious. There is a farm, a dovecote and a barn in the outer bailey, forming a very fine example of regional constructions built using timber panelling. Originally protected by a talus topped with a wooden palisade, it was the place where villagers could take refuge in the event of an attack.
The gatehouse, built in the 16th century, is flanked by two round turrets topped with a pointed roof. Boasting a portal, the ground floor was constructed with alternating brick and stone. The upper floor was constructed in timber panelling with the wall framing made of bars and fern leaves.
The original castle chapel is made in Romanesque style: thick buttressed walls, a few, narrow openings, a full-centre arch and inside, the arched framework and vestiges of wall paintings. The chapel has not been in use since the 1930s.
There is also a botanical garden, 15th century dovecote and 16th century barn on the castle site.
References: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.