Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de la Roche is a medieval building built on a rocky piton at 820 m above sea level in the valley of the Bruche (Bas-Rhin). Built in Vosges sandstone, it dominates the village of Bellefosse and integrates into a landscape marked by the granodiorites of the Champ du Feu massif. Its access is via a medieval path from the valley, highlighting its strategic role in the region.

Contrary to previous beliefs, the castle was not built in the 12th century by the knights of Lapide/Rupe. Its edification is attributed to a knight of the Rathsamhausen family, probably in the second half of the thirteenth century. The first mentioned members, Rudolfs and Hartmann von Racenhusen, appeared in 1284 during a territorial conflict with the nobles of Andlau concerning the Field of Fire. The seigneury of the Ban de la Roche, dependent on the Empire, was infiltrated at the Rathsamhausen until 1584.

The first written mention of the castle dates from 1398 (die purgk zum Stein), during an arbitration involving Gerotheus and Ditrich von Rotsamhausen von Stein. In 1430 Ulrich de Rathsamhausen hired him for 400 gold florins at the Duke of Lorraine. The castle also became the framework for a reconciliation in 1445 between Obernai and the Count of Salm. His history was marked by acts of banditry: in 1469, his occupants, led by Jerothe de Rathsamhausen and Wecker von Leiningen, ransomed Hanseatic and Mulhousian merchants.

Seated in April 1469 by the Duke of Lorraine and the Bishop of Strasbourg, the castle, defended by 22 men and 2 women, capitulates after four days of bombing. He was then dismantled and never rebuilt, despite an aborted attempt in 1472. Jerothe-le-Jeune, the only member of the family buried in Fouday (not Baldenheim), died in 1492. His effigy and that of his wife appear on the frescoes of the local temple.

Architecturally, the castle consists of an irregular dungeon (8×5 m) adapted to the shape of the rock, probably built between the late 13th and early 14th centuries. A ruined backyard suggests inhabited spaces. The site, now known for its 19 climbing routes (granit, up to 20 m), bears witness to its defensive and seigneurial past in the Alsatian Vosges.

External links