France · Ruin
Château de Hohenbourg
Château du Hohenbourg
The Château de Hohenbourg is a ruined medieval castle on a rocky outcrop in the commune of Wingen, Bas-Rhin, in northeastern France. Originating in the mid-13th century, it was restored in the early 16th century and destroyed in 1680; it has been listed as a monument historique since 1898.
First raised
1200
Its prime
1525
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1525
What Château de Hohenbourg looked like in its prime.
Perched on and partly cut into a sandstone crag, the castle presents a squat curtain wall of roughly squared pink-red sandstone blocks and a prominent cylindrical artillery tower that rises directly from the rock. Roofs are absent in the surviving photo but at its prime the silhouette would have combined the straight-lined curtain walls with the round, layered stone tower; masonry shows regular coursing of local red sandstone and entrances set into the rock face, with a terrace looking out over forested hills.
Its story
The story of Château de Hohenbourg.
The Pullers of Hohenbourg and the Fleckenstein Rivalries
The castle stands in the commune of Wingen in the Bas-Rhin, north of Lembach, and is built partly within the rock itself, a semi-troglodytic work of the middle of the thirteenth century. Its origins remain obscure. The first occupants who can be named are the Puller family, known as the Pullers of Hohenbourg. Several of their seigneuries were held in common with the Fleckensteins, and those shared lordships bred frequent rivalry between the two houses.
The Artillery Bastion and the Sixteenth-Century Restoration
The castle was restored at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The horseshoe-shaped artillery bastion is pierced by two wide openings and two gun ports, its walls between 3.60 and 4.60 metres thick, a fine example of the fortification design of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. A Renaissance doorway remains from the same period.
Montclar's Demolition in 1680 and the Listing of 1898
In 1680 the castle was destroyed by the armies of Joseph de Montclar, acting on the orders of Louis XIV. What survives has been classified as a monument historique since December 1898.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1525.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Château de Hohenbourg, including 1 interior: rock-cut chamber hewn into the crag (interior). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Château de Hohenbourg with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1525, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate this castle →Defend this castle →
