Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The medieval enclosure of Ingwiller, built in the 14th century, initially surrounded the city with a wall, a falsification and a ditch, completed by two doors (Oberdtor and Niedertor). Today, the majority of the wall remains, integrated with the current homes, while the layout of the ditch and the falsification remains identifiable, although the doors disappeared in the 19th century.

The construction began in 1346 under the impulse of Simon de Lichtenberg, authorized by Louis V of Bavaria to erect walls and ditches. A tower, added in 1379, bears an inscription attesting these dates. The enclosure, made of stoneware and stoneware, was 897 metres long for 1.80 m thick and 6.30 m high (excluding foundations). It was reinforced by a 932-metre falsification and a flooded ditch via the Moder River.

In the 17th century, the enclosure underwent repairs (1658), partial destruction (1676-1677), and then restoration (1684, 1773). The doors were dismantled in the early 19th century, as confirmed by the cadastral plan of 1831. Classified as a Historic Monument in 2015, it now includes its layout, walls, falsification, ditch, and remains of the lower gate. A mixed property (common and private), its present state reflects these centuries of transformation.

The materials used — small-scale sandstone and rubble — and the defensive arrangements (scenes, masonry ditches) bear witness to medieval military techniques. The descriptions of 1667 and 1704 (by Regemorte) specify these architectural details, highlighting the adaptation of the enclosure to the defensive needs of the time, before its decline in the eighteenth century with the abandonment of the lines of the Moder.

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