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Key figures

Origin and history

The château du Girsberg, originally called Petit-Ribeaupierre or "Stein" (the Rock), was built in the 13th century by the Ribeaupierre family, at the head of the seigneury since the 12th century. Located at 528 meters above sea level, it was part of a set of three castles protecting Ribeauvillé. After a fire caused by lightning in 1288, he was rebuilt and entrusted in fief to the knights of Girsberg in 1304, whose name he took.

In 1422, a quarrel between Guillaume de Girsberg and Maximin I of Ribeaupierre and Jean de Lupfen led to Guillaume's death in an attack. The castle then returned to the Ribeaupierre, before being abandoned in the seventeenth century. The current remains, including a 13th-century pentagonal dungeon and 14th-century lodges, testify to its architectural evolution. A niche engraved with a tau was discovered there in 1927.

Ranked a historic monument in 1841 and listed in the Official Journal in 1930, the Girsberg illustrates Alsatian feudal history. Its ruins, composed of granite and sandstone, also include a bassyard and a semicircular tower. The site is linked to the legend of the two brothers of Ribeaupierre, strengthening its anchor in the local heritage.

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