Castle ruins Ortenbourg

From the book Deltas Hiking Guide to Alsace and the Vosges: Through vineyards and forests to the proud castle. Recorded on July 25, 2011, and published with a view to upcoming vacations during the Corona times on August 16, 2020.

The fortress from the mid-thirteenth century, the Ortenbourg castle, is located in the town of Scherwiller, in the department of Bas-Rhin, just a few kilometers from Sélestat. The ruins of the building rise on a rocky summit at 437 meters above sea level.

The Ortenbourg castle, built entirely of smooth, white granite, is an outstanding example of medieval architecture in the medieval Alsace. One can still admire a five-sided dungeon that is more than thirty meters high, a rampart of seventeen meters equipped with three rows of shooters, and finally a residential building with Gothic windows.

Since the 1960s, it has been owned by the municipality and is maintained by various associations from Scherwiller.