Château de l'Ortenbourg, Scherwiller, France

Located at an altitude of 443 metres at the end of the ridge, Château de l'Ortenbourg was built between 1260 and 1265 by Rudolf Habsburg to the site of older castle. It is one of the most beautiful ruins in the Rhine Valley.

In 1291, on the death of Rudolf, Otto IV opposed the election of Albert of Habsburg and supported Adolphe de Nassau. In 1293, Otton joined the siege and had the Ramstein built to take Ortenbourg; and after three weeks of sieges, the Austrians surrendered and the Val de Villé was invaded by Otto.

From the 16th century the castle started to dilapidate as a result of a lack of maintenance, although it is inhabited until the beginning of the 17th century. In 1633 the Swedes set fire to the castle.

Today Ortenbourg is a masterpiece of military architecture with its high shirt surrounding a 32-meter dungeon, is visible from a distance and fits remarkably in the landscape. This dungeon offered 6 levels of defensive fire and its pentagonal design allowed for better deflection of the attackers' projectiles.

User Reviews

Ulrika Ihala (2 years ago)
Quite a challenging hike but stunning scenery!

V. Denisse Keller (2 years ago)
Cool to do with the family, when you search sport to do, its a good idea ??

Martin Sklenář (5 years ago)
Closed... 2 km walking distance and close ???

Erik Mulder (6 years ago)
This Chateau is a ruin but one that has quite some structure left. It's nice to walk through it and imagine how it would have been to live here so many years ago. Not a lot of information or special features to see but the views are great. Tip: take the beautiful walkway through the forest and reward your climb with a visit to Chateau l'Ortenbourg.

Gabriel (7 years ago)
I love this place. The ruins are a sight to see and climb around. I'd gladly take the small walk up the mountain again to go here. It's not a hard climb, and great on a summer day. Highly recommend you visit this place. Simply beautiful!

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Photo from Flickr, copyright discopalace

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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 de l'Ortenbourg

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