Château du Birkenfels, Ottrott, France

The Château du Birkenfels is a ruined castle in the commune of Ottrott. Originally it was built by Burkhard Berger, a vassal of the bishop of Strasbourg, in the 13th century. The castle's position allowed surveillance of the old Roman road running from Mont Sainte-Odile to Champ du Feu and the valley of the Bruche.

The construction is dated to around 1260. The earliest recorded mention is from 1289. The entrance tower to the house and the lower courtyard are from the late 15th or early 16th century.

The castle belonged the Berger family until 1532, then to the Mundolsheim family until the French Revolution. The castle fell into ruins after the Thirty Years' War and was taken over by the town of Obernai, becoming part of the continuous forest between Obernai and Bernardswiller.

The castle is today in a poor state. Remains include the ditch, wall, keep and lower courtyard.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Michèle Muller (2 years ago)
Very nice, fairly easy hike, the two castles are quite close, a little less than 2.5km from each other

Joshua Harvey (2 years ago)
Easy to get to once you find the trail head. Gorgeous castle and fun to roam around. ?Please follow for more vids and pics ? ? @dqadventure ? @dragonquestadventure ? @dragonquestadventure

Maxime (2 years ago)
Very beautiful ruin of the castle of Birkenfels, access via a few tens of minutes of walk, this one is in the middle of the forest, calm and relaxing place, small shelters with picnic table available on site.

Toby Martin (4 years ago)
Out of all the ruined castles in the area this one is probably my favourite, made special by the built in toilet hidden in the castle wall. It still works, too.

Simona A (5 years ago)
Beautiful castle. Great walk through the forest

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright discopalace

Historic Site of the week

Sigmaringen Castle

Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.

The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.

These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.

Château du Birkenfels

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Sigmaringen Castle