France · Partial ruin
Château de Saint-Ulrich
Château de Saint-Ulrich (Ulrichsburg) is a medieval hilltop castle above Ribeauvillé in Haut-Rhin, France, traditionally associated with the Ribeaupierre family. Its surviving fabric includes a 12th-century square keep, a medieval residential range and the 15th-century chapel dedicated to Saint Ulrich. The site is preserved as a historic monument but stands as a ruin today.
First raised
1200
Its prime
1250
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1250
The shape it held in its prime.
Perched on a steep rocky crag, the castle presents a tiered arrangement of curtain walls and platforms in pink-rose sandstone. A tall, square 12th-century keep rises at the east end; lower residential ranges and a corps de logis step down the ridge. A projecting barbican and outer enceinte protect the approach. The knights' hall shows a row of Romanesque arched window openings; rooflines are mostly gone and walls are pierced by irregular arrow slits and larger window openings.
Its story
The story of Château de Saint-Ulrich.
The Château de Saint-Ulrich is one of three castles — with the Girsberg and the Haut-Ribeaupierre — overlooking the commune of Ribeauvillé in Alsace, at an altitude of 528 metres. From the 11th to the 16th centuries it was the principal residence of the powerful lords of Ribeaupierre; medieval texts never used its present name, knowing it instead by that of the dynasty — Rappolstein in German.
Anselme II de Ribeaupierre chased the other members of his family from the castle, then successfully survived two sieges — by Rudolph I of Germany in 1287 and by his successor Adolf in 1293. The family finally left in the 16th century for a Renaissance-style mansion in the town, now Ribeauvillé's school.
The visible remains span several epochs: a square keep and corps de logis of the 12th century, a knights' hall and residential tower of the 13th, a barbican and outer enceinte of the 14th, and the 15th-century chapel dedicated to Saint Ulrich of Augsburg that gave the site its present name. A fine example of medieval Alsatian military architecture, it has been listed as a monument historique since 1841.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1250.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Château de Saint-Ulrich — including 4 interiors: salle des chevaliers (knights' hall), chapel of saint ulrich, corps de logis / residential range and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Château de Saint-Ulrich with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1250 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Château de Saint-Ulrich.
The families that held Château de Saint-Ulrich for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Ribeaupierre
Principal residence of the lords of Ribeaupierre — the Rappolstein dynasty — from the 11th to the 16th centuries.
