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Origin and history

Wildenstein Castle, also known as Schlossberg Castle, is a ruined castle located in Kruth, Upper Rhine. Built on a glacial moraine at an altitude of 666 metres, it dominates the road from the Oderen Pass to Lorraine, offering a strategic position for surveillance. Its steep location made it a fortress difficult to attack, reinforced by stairs carved in rock and natural defenses.

Mentioned for the first time in 1312 as the property of Ulrich III, Count of Ferrette, the castle was given to Pierre de Bollwiller as a fief. He remained with his family until 1536, when, in ruins, he was bought by the abbot of Murbach. He undertook restoration work to adapt to firearms and added a chapel dedicated to the Holy Cross. The site became an issue during the Thirty Years' War, taken and taken over by the Swedes and the French.

In 1634 the Marshal of La Force ordered Colonel La Bloquerie to seize the castle, defended by 500 men. After three weeks of siege, the fortress capitulated on August 5. Destroyed by the Swedes in 1644, the castle then served as a stone quarry for neighbouring villages, including the church of Oderen. Today, only remains remain: traces of round towers, portions of walls and a well preserved retaining wall.

Archaeological excavations in 1995 helped to better understand his plan, but the ruins, scattered on a rocky spur, remain difficult to interpret. A tunnel dug into the rock led to the lower courtyard, artificially enlarged in the 16th century. The site illustrates medieval military architecture and its adaptation to the conflicts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

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