Europe Trip
The forecast was for a cloudy 23 degree day, so we set out after breakfast for Chateau de Haut Koeingsbourg in shorts and T-shirts. However as the castle is set on top of Mount Stophanberch (755m) and we arrived to a light breeze, no sun, and it actually felt cold! We were all unused to the cooler weather, so we promptly found the tea room and ordered “cinq chocolate chaud” to warm us up. Suitably warmed and nourished, we began exploring the castle.
The castle originally dates to around the eleventh century, built on the junction of key north-south and east-west roads. Destroyed in 1462, it was rebuilt in the fifteenth century and fortified to withstand artillery fire. However during the brutal 30 Years War, the castle eventually succumbed to the powerful Swedish invaders and it was besieged, pillaged, and then burned to the ground in 1633. For a couple of hundred years the castle lay in ruins and it was only rebuilt in 1900, by Wilhelm II, anxious to cement the fact that Alsace was German territory once more.
We quite enjoyed the visit, even though the rebuilt castle isn’t “old” like other castles we’ve seen. It has more modern defensive features, and a good range of swords, guns and cannons. The view from the Keep was excellent, although due to the overcast day it wasn’t quite up there with some of our other recent views. We spent an hour there and ate our packaged lunch as we walked back to the car.
We then drove on to another pretty little village: Ribeauville which has the remains of three ruined castles (Les Trois Chateaux) high on a hillside. Mil, Annie and Oscar weren’t up for anymore walking, so Zach and I left them to rest in the car and we set out on what we thought was a fairly short climb. From the road, the first of the three castles (all are quite close together) looked like a steep but manageable half hour climb. I told Amelia that I thought we’d take around 45 minutes, not realising that the track actually winds all the way around the back of the small mountain, and after 1 hr 15 of hiking, we finally saw the first castle – and it looked at least another half an hour away! Bitterly disappointed, but very conscious of our lengthy hike already, we turned and ran most of the way back to the car, away for nearly 1.75 hours. Although we didn’t make it to the top, it was a great hike and Zach and I had some good bonding time.
We arrived home a little earlier today, so I took Oscar out to the playground and gave him a go on the carousel before dinner, which was in the square where we ate a couple of nights ago.
James Burnet
34 chapters
15 Apr 2020
Day 33
Chateau du Haut Koenigsbourg and Les Trois Chateaux
The forecast was for a cloudy 23 degree day, so we set out after breakfast for Chateau de Haut Koeingsbourg in shorts and T-shirts. However as the castle is set on top of Mount Stophanberch (755m) and we arrived to a light breeze, no sun, and it actually felt cold! We were all unused to the cooler weather, so we promptly found the tea room and ordered “cinq chocolate chaud” to warm us up. Suitably warmed and nourished, we began exploring the castle.
The castle originally dates to around the eleventh century, built on the junction of key north-south and east-west roads. Destroyed in 1462, it was rebuilt in the fifteenth century and fortified to withstand artillery fire. However during the brutal 30 Years War, the castle eventually succumbed to the powerful Swedish invaders and it was besieged, pillaged, and then burned to the ground in 1633. For a couple of hundred years the castle lay in ruins and it was only rebuilt in 1900, by Wilhelm II, anxious to cement the fact that Alsace was German territory once more.
We quite enjoyed the visit, even though the rebuilt castle isn’t “old” like other castles we’ve seen. It has more modern defensive features, and a good range of swords, guns and cannons. The view from the Keep was excellent, although due to the overcast day it wasn’t quite up there with some of our other recent views. We spent an hour there and ate our packaged lunch as we walked back to the car.
We then drove on to another pretty little village: Ribeauville which has the remains of three ruined castles (Les Trois Chateaux) high on a hillside. Mil, Annie and Oscar weren’t up for anymore walking, so Zach and I left them to rest in the car and we set out on what we thought was a fairly short climb. From the road, the first of the three castles (all are quite close together) looked like a steep but manageable half hour climb. I told Amelia that I thought we’d take around 45 minutes, not realising that the track actually winds all the way around the back of the small mountain, and after 1 hr 15 of hiking, we finally saw the first castle – and it looked at least another half an hour away! Bitterly disappointed, but very conscious of our lengthy hike already, we turned and ran most of the way back to the car, away for nearly 1.75 hours. Although we didn’t make it to the top, it was a great hike and Zach and I had some good bonding time.
We arrived home a little earlier today, so I took Oscar out to the playground and gave him a go on the carousel before dinner, which was in the square where we ate a couple of nights ago.
