Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Gigersburg Castle, or Girsberg, is an Alsatian castle built in the 12th century by the Girsberg family, whose original name it bears. Located at 408 metres above sea level, 1 km south of Wihr-au-Val (High Rhine), it served as the seat of a seigneurial court (Dinghof). Its present name, Gigersburg, is the result of a local deformation of Girsberg, the noble family that built it and made it its heritage castle (Stammburg Girsperc), mentioned in 1303.

The origins of the castle date back to the acquisition of seigneurial rights by the Girsbergs on Wihr-au-Val, originally owned by the Butenheim family. Admitted to the Abbey of Payerne, the Girsbergs administered the abbatial lands between Saint-Gilles and Griesbach, while strengthening their possessions. Their first historical mention dates from 1185 in the colmarian annals, although the exact date of construction of the castle remains unknown.

In the 13th century, the Girsbergs clashed with their neighbours, including Rappoltstein, the Bishop of Strasbourg and the Hattstatts. In 1279 they burned Wihr-au-Val and its castle, Sonnenbourg. Their tensions culminated in 1281 with the construction of the Staufenberg, destroyed in the same year by the bishop's vassals. In 1284, a reconstruction of the Staufenberg was again razed by Conrad-Werner de Hattstatt, marking the escalation of hostilities.

The climax of the conflicts came in 1290, when Emperor Rodolphe II of Habsburg ordered the siege of the Girsberg after the assassination of Sigfrid of Gundolsheim, imperial representative. The colmarian troops sat down the castle for 23 to 30 weeks, using trebuchets and mine galleries to weaken its defences. The Girsbergs, defeated in 1291, were imprisoned in their own castle and forced to dismantle it in 1293.

Released after two years, the Girsbergs restored the castle in 1296, benefiting from the death of Rodolphe II. However, fratricidal struggles weaken the family. In 1306, Henri-le-Jeune de Rappoltstein re-seated the castle, forcing the Girsbergs to give him their rights over Wihr-au-Val and the Girsberg. In 1316 they definitively exchanged the castle for Stein's castle near Ribeauvillé, marking its abandonment.

Deserted, the Girsberg fell into ruins in the 14th century. In 1397, the Rappoltsteins planned his rehabilitation, without further action. The ruin and its lands were transferred to Murbach Abbey in 1510. Today, there are only two masonry walls, ditches and traces of the seats suffered, witness to his tormented history.

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