The Château de Ramstein is a ruined castle in the commune of Baerenthal. This 13th-century castle was built by the lords of Falkenstein on the instructions of the bishop of Strasbourg to control the Zinselbach valley, probably in 1292. During the course of the 14th century, the lords of Ramstein transformed it into a den of brigands and it was destroyed in 1355 during a punitive expedition by the Strasbourgeois and their allies from Bern.
Below the castle can be seen two underground passages dug in 1936 by French military engineers as part of the Maginot Line. They were used as shelter by the local population during the battles of winter 1944-45. This site is currently closed to protect a colony of bats.
References:The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.