The Château de Hohbarr (Haut-Barr) is a medieval castle, first built in 1100, above the city of Saverne in what is now the French département of Bas-Rhin. It was built on sandstone rock 460m above the valley of Zorn and the plain of Alsace. Because of this, it has been called the eye of Alsace.
The current castle was built in 1583 by Jean de Manderscheid. The Peace of Westphalia mandated the destruction of several castles, including Hohbarr, but after the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession, in 1701, the fortress was back in use. It was abandoned around 1770, but the vault continued to be occupied until the French Revolution.
House of the Blackheads (Melngalvju nams) is a building situated in the old town of Riga. The original building was erected during the first third of the 14th century for the Brotherhood of Blackheads, a guild for unmarried German merchants in Riga. Major works were done in the years 1580 and 1886, adding most of the ornaments.
The structure was bombed to a ruin by the Germans June 28, 1941 and the remains demolished by the Soviets in 1948. The current reconstruction was erected from 1995 to 1999. Today the House of Blackheads serves as a museum and sometimes concert hall.