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Origin and history

Waldeck Castle was erected at the end of the 13th century on three rocks west of the Waldeck range, in the commune of Eguelshardt (Moselle). He was commissioned by Duke Ferry III of Lorraine to defend the eastern steps of his duchy. Originally in possession of the Limanges (Leiningen) in 1227, it was divided in 1316 between the Kirkel (descents of the Sarrewerden) and the Lichtenberg, before becoming a condominium governed by a castral peace in 1341. Its donjon offered a strategic point to control the road between Alsace, Sturzelbronn Abbey and the Palatinate.

In 1387, the extinction of the Kirkel allowed the Deux-Ponts-Bitche to gradually recover the castle: Hanemann the Young gave a part as a pledge to the Lichtenbergs in 1399, but Frédéric de Deux-Ponts-Bitche became its sole owner in 1443. The castle then changed hands through inheritances: after the death of the last Count of Deux-Ponts-Bitche in 1570, he passed to Philippe V de Hanau-Lichtenberg, then was surrendered to the Duchy of Lorraine in 1606 after a long conflict over the rights of vassality. At that time, the boundaries between Lorraine and Hanau-Lichtenberg, still visible, were laid.

The castle experienced two notable military episodes: its dismantling in 1633 by the French troops of the Marshal of the Force, and a fight in 1761 where the soldiers of the Turpin regiment, led by Nicolas d'Origny, repulsed an English battalion – a battle in which Colonel d'Origny was killed. The ruins, classified as a historical monument in 1930, now include a south tower restored in 1900 by the Vosges Club, a cistern, and the remains of a lower yard. Access has been prohibited since 1999.

Architecturally, the castle occupied a slender spur overlooking the Erbsenthal valley. Until the 19th century, it had two square towers in stoneware, one of which was destroyed by lightning. A large underground room dug into the rock and a crenellated tower remain, offering a view of the Hanau pond. The site illustrates the strategic stakes and feudal conflicts that marked this border region between Lorraine, Alsace and Palatinate.

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