Not far from Hohlandsbourg Castle, at an altitude of 454 m Pflixbourg Tower emerges from the canopy of Wintzenheim Forest like a lighthouse watching over the Fecht valley.
Built around 1219 by Albin Wolflin, imperial bailiff of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, it then served as a residence for the great bailiff, Conrad Werner of Hattstatt. After many changes of ownership in the 14th and 15th centuries, it passed to Gaspard of Schlick, vice chancellor of the Emperor Sigismond. Sold in 1434 to Smassmann of Ribeaupierre, it was destroyed, it seems, during a conflict between the new owner and the nobles of Hattstatt.
Made uninhabitable, the castle was abandoned to nature. Polygonal in form, the Pflixbourg’s curtain wall encloses a circular keep, a cistern and various houses and outbuildings. The castle was built mainly of granite, on three levels: cellars, a ground floor, and the top floor rooms occupied by the owner and his suite. There were no later additions.
References:The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.