Engelbourg Castle

Engelbourg Castle, locally known as Château d'Engelbourg, lies on a hill next to the village of Thann in the Haut-Rhin department in France. This area is also known as the Southern Alsace or the Southern Vosges.

Engelbourg Castle was probably built around 1200. It was first mentioned in 1225 when owned and used by the Count of Ferrette to guard the entrance to the Thur valley. Between 1234 and 1251 it belonged to the Bishop of Strasbourg but in 1271 it was ceded by, again, the Counts of Ferrette to the Bishop of Basel.

The County of Ferrette, and with it Engelbourg Castle, passed to the House of Habsburg by marriage in 1324. It was held by their vassals during the 15th century when the castle was besieged several times; in 1415 by the Count Palatine and by the Armagnacs in 1444, during the Hundred Years' War. The people of Bern besieged it in 1468 after which it fell under the rule of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, until 1477.

War acts damaged the castle considerably during the Thirty Years' War in the 17th century. But following the Peace of Westphalia, in 1648, which linked Alsace to France, the border was pushed back from the Vosges mountains to the Rhine river and the castle lost its strategic interest. From 1658 on it was owned by Cardinal Mazarin and his descendants.

Finally, in 1673, the French king Louis XIV ordered the ruined castle to be demolished. So the castle was mined which caused the round keep to fall over. Apparently what remained was used as a stone quarry by the locals. A section of the fallen keep remained which is now the peculiar stone 'ring', called the "l'Œil de la Sorcière" or "the Eye of the Witch".

At present Engelbourg Castle is freely accessible. The view over the town and of course the tower remnant are nice but the rest of the remains show little architectural detail. So not very interesting. It takes a walk up a forest path of about 20 min from the town to get to it.

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