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Origin and history

Rauschenburg, also known as Rauschenburg in German, was a castle built in 1470 on the site of the former municipality of Gichwiller, now attached to Ingwiller in the Lower Rhine. Contrary to a local legend attributing its construction to Johannes Mentelin and the invention of on-site typography, the archives confirm that it was built by the printer Adolf Rusch. The name of the castle does not come from the noise of the presses (as suggested by the popular lymology linked to the verb rauschen, "resonate"), but rather from its founder, Rusch, who asserts in his writings. The site, strategic, was surrounded by moat fed by Moder and protected by swamps, although dominated by the Sternberg mountain.

Upon the death of Adolf Rusch, his widow Salome, the daughter of Mentelin, sold the castle in 1470 to Simund Wecker IV von Zweibrücken-Bitsch, baili d'Ingwiller. After the extinction of this line in 1551, the estate moved to the Counts of Leiningen-Westerburg, which made it an administrative center and residence for their local baili, as well as an occasional hunting relay. Rauschenbourg also retained a defensive role, serving as a refuge for the Comtal family during unrest, as during the Thirty Years' War. In 1669, Count Ludwig Eberhard von Leiningen took refuge after fleeing his castle of Oberbronn, besieged by the Count Palatin. The latter failed to take the Rauschenbourg thanks to its fortifications, but the French occupied it and destroyed it in 1677, during the Dutch War.

In the 18th century, the castle, already in ruins, was integrated in 1702 into the line of defense of Moder by Jean-Baptiste de Règemorte, during the War of Succession of Spain. A 1734 document describes it as "totally ruined", and a fire completes its destruction in the middle of the century. The last ruins were damaged in 1817, and their stones were reused for other constructions. Today, there is nothing left on the surface, but plans of the 18th century and descriptions allow to reconstruct its architecture: a square of 50 meters side, surrounded by moat masons of 30 meters wide, with towers at angles and a central house. The site remains a place named after it.

The architecture of the Rauschenbourg reflected its dual use, both residential and military. The castle was accessible by a drawbridge to the west, leading to a gate tower, while turrets and semicircular towers reinforced its angles. The moats, supplied by the Moder, and the surrounding swamps complicated the seats, although the proximity of the Sternberg offered a dominant point of view to the assailants. By 1704, part of the courtesines had already been destroyed, replaced by summary parapets. The two large north towers, perhaps stables, had disappeared before that date, but the main house still remained. The gradual disappearance of the castle is due to its abandonment after the Dutch war and the damage suffered in subsequent conflicts.

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