Isn't that how you remember all those fairy tales from childhood starting?
From out of my lounge window, looking west across the Rhine and the Rhine valley, far in the distance is the Vogesen Mountains, and directly in view on the top of the highest peak of the Stophanberch mountain, is the mighty castle of Haut-Koenigsbourg, once upon a time the seat of the Princes and Knights of Hohenstaufen. It might not look like much from such a distance, but oh boy..once you get up close it is one imposing medieval fortress and castle.
I have been there before and took a tour, but that was in winter, when the climb to the entrance was so treacherous with the ground frozen solid and slippery as a wet bar of soap.
This year marks the 100th year centenary of the completion of restoration work on Haut-Koenigsbourg. While I was at it, I took over 135 photos from every angle of the exterior and interior of the beautiful castle. The very best of my photos I present to you here, in a pictorial tribute to Kaiser Wilhelm II, who initiated and financed the restoration, as well as the architect Bodo Ebhardt and the many people, carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers, painters, sculptors, artists, gilders and other 'fachleute' from all the surrounding villages of the Alsace who were involved in its magnificent restoration over 100 years ago.
It is unknown when a castle was first built on the site. The first explicit mention that is known was in 1147 when Fredrick von Hohenstaufen, (known as 'One Eye') noted the strategic importance of the 755m high Stophanberch mountain... It took its name from the original Königsburg, German for "king's castle", in 1192.
In the early thirteenth century the castle passed from the Hohenstaufen family to the Dukes of Lorraine who entrusted it to the Ratsamhausen family who held the castle until the fifteenth century. A coalition of cities attacked and burned the castle in 1462.The ruins passed to the Thiersteins who rebuilt them after 1479 with a defensive system suited to the new artillery of the time. In 1517 the Thierstein died without an heir and the castle came into the possession of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.
It was given by the city of Sélestat to the German emperor Wilhelm II in 1899. Wilhelm wished to create for himself a castle lauding the qualities of the medieval time of Alsace and more generally of German civilization. He hoped it would reinforce the bond of Alsatians with Germany, as they had only recently (1871) been incorporated into the German Reich. The management of the restoration of this fortified castle was entrusted to Bodo Ebhardt. Work proceeded from 1900 to 1908.
Bodo Ebhart's aim was to rebuild as near as possible to what it was like on the eve of the Thirty Years' War. He relied as much as possible on historical accounts, but, occasionally lacking information, he had to improvise some parts of the stronghold. For example, the Keep tower is now reckoned to be about 14 metres too tall. Wilhelm also encouraged certain modifications which emphasised a romantic nostalgia for Germanic civilization. For example, the main dining hall has a taller roof than it did at the time, and links between the Hohenzollern family with the Habsburgs of the Holy Roman Empire are over-emphasized.
After World War I, the French state confiscated the castle. For many years it was considered fashionable to sneer at the castle in France because of its links to the emperor. Many considered it to be nothing more than a fairy tale castle. However, in recent years many historians have established that, although it is not a completely accurate reconstruction, it is at least interesting for what it shows about Wilhelm II's ideas of the past. Parts of the 1937 movie The Grand Illusion by Jean Renoir were shot at Haut-Kœnigsbourg.
The castle has been listed as a monument historique since 1862. In 1993, it was officially designated as a national historic site by the French Ministry of Culture. Today, it is one of the most famous tourist attractions of the region. 
After passing through the main gate with the Tierstein coat of arms, you pass through a narrow passage between the main south buildings and the outer fortified walls and out into the lower courtyard, where is situated the stables, the mill house, blacksmiths workshops, stores and all the other buildings that made the castle self sufficient
As the photo's above shows the extensive work required on the old wind mill and mill house, the before and after shots of it's restoration. The big old millstones were unearthed during restoration and are also on display.
This is the lower forcourt entrance, also fortified so that it would not be cut off form the main living quarters by an artillery attack. It also has one of the many wells in the centre which is no less than 62 metres deep...!
This spiral staircase leads from the inner courtyard, outside of the kitchen, pantries and wine storehouse, up into the keep and the gallery of the private living quarters.
This pic above is the kings study. All the rooms in the private apartments are inter leading, not large rooms and with low ceilings ans small windows, they are pretty dark and dingy, however this was to be able to heat them properly in winter.
In each room was either an open hearth or a ceramic wood burning stove covered with green glazed, pressed ceramic tiles with emblems and representations of medieval life.
The above pic shows the arms room (I poached this pic as mine came out too dark), displayed are a collection of various halberds, massive double handed swords, amazing assortment of crossbows and long bows, wind up crossbows that no doubt could kill a mammoth, and a collection of armour.
The furniture in the Lorrain bedchamber, situated in the south side of the building, comes from the province of Lorrain, and was a gift from the people of the province to Kaiser Wilhelm II.
In this section of the castle is the most luxurious apartments. Not that they would be considered luxurious by our standards, but some of them were provided with long drop latrines. All the rooms were interconnecting.
The most impressive room is the Kaisers Great Hall, it was probably the gathering place for all the knights and ladies and the scene of many banquets and gatherings. An imperial eagle and coat of arms indicate the political character of this room, with the most beautiful frescoes by Leo Schnug adorning the ceiling and walls.
...a strange thing I noticed was that all the maidens and ladies have got large pregnant bellies...I don't know why...maybe woman back then were pregnant all the time...all those long winter nights and brave and horny..knights..!
...as can be seen by the two pics below, I did manage to get my shot of the Rhine valley! This is the view from the top of the battlements of Haut-Koenigsbourg on top of the Stopphanberch mountain of the Vogesen, looking east across the Rhine to Deutschland, with the Schwartzwald in the distance.
Below is the small village of Orschwiller, surrounded by vineyards and fields of wheat.
The End
1 comments:
An excellent post. The pics are stunning, and the dialogue is fine, It shows just how beautiful the countryside is, and invokes the desire to be there and to see it all firsthand.
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