Château d'Ochsenstein
| Château d’Ochsenstein (Ochsenstein Castle) |
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|---|---|
| Reinhardsmunster, Bas-Rhin, France | |
Exterior of south wall
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| Coordinates | 48°40′58″N 7°17′59″E / 48.6828°N 7.2998°ECoordinates: 48°40′58″N 7°17′59″E / 48.6828°N 7.2998°E |
| Type | Castle |
| Site information | |
| Condition | Classified as a Historical Monument (1898) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 13th–16th centuries |
The Château d'Ochsenstein is a ruined castle located in the commune of Reinhardsmunster, in the Bas-Rhin département of France. It was home to the Ochsensteins, a powerful family from medieval Alsace. The castle sits upon three sandstone spurs and comprises three separate castles: le Grand Ochsenstein, le Petit Ochsenstein and a third building, thought to be called le Château de Wachelheim.
Ochsenstein castle has been classified as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1898.
The Château d'Ochsenstein is located in the heart of the Forêt domaniale (national forest) of Saverne and occupies the southern end of the Schlossberg mountain, at a height of 584 metres. The ruins tower above the glade and the Haberacker Forest House (altitude: 476 metres). The site is surrounded by steep slopes, except to the north of the Schlossberg summit plateau where the terrain is flat. The castle overlooks an old strategic passageway, which rises from the Alsace plain and Reinhardsmunster through the Mosselthal valley, to reach the Baerenbach valley, the Stambach Annex, and which finally reaches Lutzelbourg, and Phalsbourg in Lorraine.
From Saverne, the castle may be accessed by car along the D171 road, then the forest road which passes le Schaeferplatz as far as the Haberacker farms. A forest path marked by a blue rectangle (GR 531) leads to the castle, about 20 minutes away and roughly 110 metres above.
The castle ruins are located:
The castle is thought to have been built in the late 12th century. It is part of a chain of Vosges castles near Saverne which were built to defend the passage from the Alsace plain to Lorraine. The Fiefdom of Ochsenstein was carved out of the lands of the Marmoutier Abbey by the Bishops of Metz.
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