- Château de Schœneck
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Ruins of the Château de Schœneck
The Château de Schœneck is a castle situated in the commune of Dambach, in the French département of Bas-Rhin.
Contents
History
The castle, probably built at the end of the 13th century, is on a rocky crest at an altitude of 380 m. It was certainly built at the instigation of the Hohenstaufens for hunting brigands taking refuge in the area. Destroyed around 1280, it was rebuilt in 1286 and is mentioned in 1287 as the property of the Bishop of Strasbourg, ally of the Habsburgs. He entrusted the upkeep to the Lichtenbergs and pledged its allegiance to Schœneck.
The castle was restored between 1335 and 1390 to adapt it to the progress of artillery. It was modernised between 1545 and 1547 by the Exkbrechts of Durckheim, who had held the fiefdom since 1517. The castle was finally destroyed in 1680 by French troops, on the order of Louis XIV and, after the French Revolution, the ruins were bought by the Dietrich family.
The castle has been listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1985.
Description
A small vaulted door and a larger entrance flanked by two 16th century bastions with cannon holes are still visible. The remains of the manor buildings appear as a Lombard frieze, notably because of the bay windows on the upper level outside the western curtain wall, with their narrow semi-circular arches. To the west, a rectilinear curtain wall closes the lower courtyard while, in the east, a long wall is flanked by two towers.
The castle has been the subject of consolidation works by the association Cunulmergrun since 2000.
See also
External links
- Official site of the commune of Dambach
- French Ministry of Culture database entry for Château de Schœneck (French)
- Pictures of Schoeneck Castle on historische-orte.de
Bibliography
- Maurice FREY Chronique des fouilles médiévales. Dambach-Neunhoffen, Château de Schoeneck 1983
- Ecole d'architecture, Strasbourg Le château de Schoeneck, Chantiers 1981/1984 1984
- BILGER, Bertrand-L Schoeneck ou les ambitions des Durckheim 1991
- This article incorporates information from this version of the equivalent article on the French Wikipedia.
Categories:- Châteaux in Bas-Rhin
- Official historical monuments of France
- Rock castles
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