Birkenfels Castle lies southwest of  Mont Ste. Odile in the Bas-Rhin province in France. This area is also known as the Northern Alsace or the Middle Vosges.

Birkenfels Castle is built on a low sandstone height, on the northern side of the 657 meters high, Kienberg mountain. The defensive value of this site is, obviously, poor. The construction of the castle, by Albrecht Beger, is placed between 1260 and 1262. It gets first mentioned in 1289. Habitation of the castle is only proved for the 14th and 15th century. The castle is dilapidated in the 1434 and finally abandoned during the 16th century.

The castle is purely a residential site. The main building, in irregular trapezoid of 16 meters length had 3 floors; the ground floor had a defensive use and is equipped with 10 niched, loopholes. The upper 2 floors had a residential use and were equipped with broad windows which of course made the castle vulnerable. The pentagonal keep, which flanks the main building in the east, remained unfinished.

This is a simple castle ruin in a nice green setting.

The left picture is the inside of the castle.
The right picture is taken looking upwards inside the small keep

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