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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Ifs Castle, located in Kientzheim (High Rhine), is a large house built between courtyard and garden in the second half of the 16th century. Its architecture is distinguished by a polygonal staircase turret dating from 1577, a helical silt staircase, and 18th century bays. The garden façade, with a porch and pediment, reflects neo-baroque transformations from the early 19th century. Inside, an adorned sandstone fireplace and ancient parquet floors testify to its past prestige.

The estate, surrounded by a wall of enclosure, includes a garden adorned with yews and magnolias, bordered by a sandstone balustrade. An outbuilding with carriageway and pottery pillars complete the whole. The site occupies the site of an ancient noble dwelling of the thirteenth century, belonging to the Richen von Coensheim, then transformed by the family of Frédéric de Kageneck in 1577. After the Thirty Years' War, the property changed hands several times, passing to the Scheppelin, Neef, Olry, and Goetz families.

In the 18th century, the house body was modernized, while in the 19th century, Georges Joseph de Golbéry applied his coat of arms. Since 1900, the castle belongs to the Schwartz family. Ranked a historic monument in 1999, it preserves protected elements such as the entrance passage, the turret, five chimneys, and the garden. A room of painted hunters, mentioned by the sources but not visible, dates back to 1585.

The castle illustrates the architectural evolution of an Alsatian aristocratic residence, marked by phases of construction and beautification reflecting the tastes of successive epochs. Its history is linked to local noble and bourgeois families, whose interventions shaped its present aspect. Today, there remains a testimony of the historical and landscape heritage of the Upper Rhine.

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