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Batres Castle is the main attraction of town. It has a square floor plan and was built in the 15th century, with fired clay on flint foundations. It is peculiar because of the diamond shapes on the corners of the towers, which end in circular terraces at the top. The highest one, the keep, is 25 metres high. In the fortress there is a beautiful iron balcony, as well as an interior Renaissance courtyard with Plateresque galleries. In the castle there is also the so-called Garcilaso fountain, situated under a brick arch, framed by marble plaques with engraved verses.
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.