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Origin and history

Reichenstein Castle is a 13th century castle located in Riquewihr, in the Haut-Rhin department (Alsace, Great East). Built before 1255, it is mentioned for the first time that year. Its pentagonal dungeon, about 15 meters high, is a rare example of Alsatian medieval military architecture, never redesigned. It served as a shield for the house, now disappeared, and was surrounded by an enclosure of which only remains remains.

The castle was destroyed in 1269 during a punitive expedition led by Rodolphe de Habsburg, allied with the militias of Strasbourg and Colmar. The purpose of this intervention was to suppress the robberies of the Reichenstein knights, who were disrupting the Strasbourg trade. The site, already damaged by an earthquake in 1356, also suffered landslides in the nineteenth century. Despite his abandonment, he was listed for his heritage in 1990.

Located at 425 meters above sea level in the Sembach Valley, the castle had no strategic value because of its isolation. Its construction in sandstone and granite, with hump chains, reflects local techniques. The high door of the dungeon, accessible 10 meters from the ground, communicated with the rectangular house. A 2,20-metre square room, accessible by a modern breach, occupies the base of the dungeon.

The ruins of Reichenstein Castle, owned by the municipality of Riquewihr, offer a unique testimony of the Alsatian castles of the Middle Ages. Their state of conservation, though partial, allows us to study a typical defensive architecture, without the subsequent changes frequent in the region. The site remains an emblematic place to understand local feudal history and medieval commercial conflicts.

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