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Origin and history

Bilstein Castle, also known as Bilstein-Aubure or Bilstein Alsacien, is a medieval castle located on the Schlossberg ridge, 757 metres above sea level, between Ribeauvillé and Aubure. Built in the 12th century, it is mentioned for the first time in 1217 during a dark episode: the provost Matthew, brother of the Duke of Lorraine and murderer of the bishop of Toul, finds refuge there under the protection of the Sires of Horbourg, then owners of the place. This strategic site, isolated by a ditch cut out of the rock, combines a sealed square dungeon and a double enclosure, reflecting its defensive and seigneurial role.

In 1324 the brothers Walter and Burkart of Horburg, without heirs, sold the castle and their seigneury to Ulrich of Württemberg for 4,000 marks of silver. The latter made it a prison and transferred in 1337 (or 1387 according to the sources) a miraculous statue of the Virgin to the chapel Our Lady of Riquewihr, attracting pilgrims. The castle, passed to the Reformation with the Württembergs, suffered sieges like that of 1547 by the troops of Charles Quint, opposed to the Protestants. Despite regular work (tills, windows, dungeon roof in 1558-1561), he declined after the Thirty Years War.

The fortress was looted in 1636 by the mercenaries of Count Schlick, then ravaged by a fire in 1640. A last baili was held until the 1670s before it was finally abandoned. The ruins, classified as a historical monument in 1898, then served as a stone quarry. The site preserves remains of the dungeon in bossed sandstone, bellow enclosures, and a nearby quarry (Koenigstuhl) having supplied the materials. Today, it illustrates Alsatian castral architecture and the religious conflicts of the 16th-17th centuries.

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