Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Grünstein Castle, located in Stotzheim in the Lower Rhine, has its origins in the 13th century with a first building named Schollenhof, built in 1163 by Otton de Stotzheim. In 1339, a new castle, Steinernestock, was erected on the same site by the Counts of Rechberg. These successive transformations reflect changes in ownership and regional conflicts, including the Thirty Years War.

The current structure dates mainly from 1574, as evidenced by the Renaissance entrance door. The castle changed hands several times: bought in 1690 by Claudius Le Laboureur after the attachment of Alsace to France, then sold in 1741 to Marshal Jean Frédéric de Schwengsfeld. In 1789 it was occupied by the clergyman Euloge Schneider, before being acquired in 1830 by the Mullenheim family, which added neo-Gothic elements (chapel in 1870, dependence in 1882).

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the castle enjoyed a variety of uses: casino for German officers in 1918, then renovation in guest rooms after its acquisition in 2009. Ranked a historic monument in 1986, it retains protected elements such as the access bridges, the facades of the house body, and the southern gate with its tombstones in reuse. Its architecture thus combines medieval heritage, Renaissance and modern transformations.

The successive names of the castle — Schollenhof (1298), Steinernestock (1339), then Pierre Verte or Grünstein (since 1690) — illustrate its identity evolution over the centuries. Lapidary remains, including funerary slabs of the Mullenheim family, recall its turbulent history, between destructions, reconstructions and adaptations to times.

External links