Château de Fleckenstein, Lembach, France

Château de Fleckenstein was built on a sandstone summit in the Middle Ages. The first record of the castle dates from 1165. It is named after the Fleckenstein family, owners until 1720 when it passed to the Vitzthum d'Egersberg family. In 1807, it passed to J-L Apffel and in 1812 to General Harty, baron of Pierrebourg. In 1919, it became the property of the French state.

The rock and the castle have been modified and modernised many times. Of the Romanesque castle, remains include steps cut into the length of the rock, troglodyte rooms and a cistern. The lower part of the well tower dates from the 13th or 14th century, the rest from the 15th and 16th. The inner door in the lower courtyard carries the faded inscription 1407 (or 1423); the outer door 1429 (or 1428). The stairwell tower is decorated with the arms of Friedrich von Fleckenstein (died 1559) and those of his second wife, Catherine von Cronberg (married 1537).

The 16th-century castle, modernised between 1541 and 1570, was shared between the two branches of the Fleckenstein family. Documents from the 16th century describe the castle and a watercolour copy of a 1562 tapestry shows its appearance in this period. Towards the end of the 17th-century Fleckenstein was captured twice by French troops. In 1674 the capture was achieved by forces under Marshall Vauban, who encountered no resistance from the defenders. The castle was nevertheless completely destroyed in 1689 by General Melac. Major restoration work was carried out after 1870, around 1908 and again since 1958.

The castle is located between Lembach to the south and Hirschtal to the north, only about 200 meters to the southeast of the present French frontier with Germany, at a height of about 370 meters above mean sea level. The castle, is accessible by road or via hiking trails.

References:

Wikipedia

Castles and fortifications in France

User Reviews

Mathieu Duhayer (3 years ago)
It's such a great place for kids and adults! Beautiful landscape and fun activities.

Rory McKenna (3 years ago)
wonderful castle ruins to visit. great views over the valley. the paper guides (which you get along with the purchase of your entrance ticket) are filled with interesting details. the German one is slightly more detailed than the English guide, but luckily we had one of each in our group !

K (3 years ago)
My parents and I went for a hike around the castle. We took a trail that left from the castle to get into nature. The trails are only footpaths so it’s pretty steep and uneven at times but you won’t loose the trail. We hiked for about three hours and got back to the parking lot. It was a really nice day trip. We didn’t end up going inside the castle since it seemed like it was meant for young kids. However there was also a middle age playground which looked amazing.

Mark Bird (3 years ago)
A great place to explore. Be careful in the darkest of internal passages, steps are uneven but that's part of the fun when stumbling your way through with a group of friends. Fantastic views and excellent toilet, food and shop facilities.

Mike E (3 years ago)
Fun and interesting castle to visit. Parking was easy, and the walk to the castle is a short one of 5-10 minutes. I do like the fact that they have a cafe and restrooms on site. There is a 4.50€ fee to explore the ruins which I thought was reasonable. We will probably return to explore some more of the area.

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