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Origin and history

The castle of La Petite-Pierre, or Burg Lützelstein, is a medieval building erected at the end of the 12th century by the Counts of Eguisheim-Dabo, then ceded in fief to the noble family Parva Petra ("little stone"), which gave it its name. The site, mentioned in 1212, became an independent county before being integrated into the possessions of the bishop of Strasbourg in 1223 in the form of a fief. His history was marked by successive conflicts, notably with Count Palatine Frédéric I, who took over in 1452 after a nine-week siege.

In the 16th century, the castle was modernized by Jerri-Hans, Count Palatin of Veldenz, who made it his residence in 1566. After the Thirty Years' War (1648), he passed under French control, and Vauban strengthened the fortifications there between 1677 and 1681, saving his destruction in contrast to other Alsatian castles. Demilitarized in 1870 under German annexation, it will successively house the German and then French forest services, before hosting, since 1977, the offices of the Vosges du Nord Regional Natural Park.

The architecture of the castle combines medieval defensive elements (pentagonal dungeon destroyed in the 19th century, 14th century cistern) and Renaissance additions (ornate wells, pilasters door). Ranked a Historic Monument in 1922, the site underwent a major renovation between 2017 and 2020 to preserve its heritage while adapting it to administrative use. Today, its courtyard, garden and craft shop are open to the public, while the Au Grès du Jazz festival has been held every summer since 2002.

The castle is inseparable from the fortified city of Staedtel, founded between the 13th and 14th centuries to strengthen its defence. The remains of the ramparts, the chapel of Saint-Louis and the cisterns (including one dug in 1570–1571) bear witness to this strategic past. The visible fortifications date mostly from the work of Vauban (1684), replacing older structures destroyed in 1870.

Owned by the Counts of Eguisheim-Dabo, then the bishops of Strasbourg and Palatines, the castle illustrates the political stakes of medieval and modern Alsace. Its uninterrupted occupation since the 12th century makes it a rare example of historical continuity, marked by successive adaptations to military, administrative and cultural uses.

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