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Origin and history

The castle of Spesburg is a castle in ruins located on the town of Andlau, in the Lower Rhine (Great East). Built probably in the second half of the 13th century, it is attributed to Alexander de Dicka, brother of the bishop of Strasbourg Heinrich de Dicka. In 1247 he was given the title of the abbey of Andlau, usurped a year earlier. The property of the castle is shared with the Werd, landgraves of Lower Alsace, in the form of an Oblate fief, a political maneuver to secure its legitimacy on imperial lands.

Half of the castle belonging to the Dickes remained in their family until the end of the lineage in 1386, after the death of Walter de Dicke at the Battle of Sempach. As early as 1352, the other half was held in fief by the Andlau, who became the sole owners after 1386. The castle was mentioned as their property in 1439, despite an ephemeral capture by Étienne of Bavaria in 1432, facilitated by the absence of reserves.

In the 16th century, the Spesburg served as a residence for the listener of Andlau until his fire around 1550, probably caused by bourgeois of Barr in retaliation for a rape committed by a resident of the castle. Abandoned later, it was used as a quarry between the 18th and 19th centuries. Ranked a historic monument in 1967, it is now a communal property and has undergone restoration since the 1980s.

The site, perched at 460 m above sea level, dominates the Andlau Valley and consists of a well-preserved high castle, including a dungeon and a seigneurial lodge, and a lower courtyard. Its granite architecture, with the exception of sandstone windows, reflects medieval defensive techniques. The access, protected by a rock ditch, was controlled by a barbacan and a ramp to the southeast.

The toponymy of the castle, Spesburg (francisation from the German Spesburg), derives from the high German Spehtzberg ("mountain of peaks"), with reference to the shape of the mountain. This name illustrates the Alsatian linguistic and geographical anchor of the monument, marked by Germanic and French influences.

Sold in 1830 by the Andlau at Baron Hallez, then bequeathed to the commune in 1904, the Spesburg benefited from archaeological excavations in the 1960s. The Association for its Restoration, established in 1985, has allowed several consolidation campaigns, thus preserving this testimony of Alsatian feudal history.

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