Friday was castle day and we went to a pretty imposing edifice only a short drive through wine country from Colmar. Alsace wine is a very important product in this area, with it’s drier climate it’s a perfect grape growing area, both white and red. It’s also harvest time and people are very busy picking and crushing,
Haut Kœnigsbourg is a castle atop of the Stophanberch Mountain 755m above the plain, it was first built in the 12 century and has a very checkered history until during the thirty years it was sacked and burned by the Swedes, although what Swedes were doing so far south!!! It was left as a ruin for two and a half centuries, when Alsace fell into German hands in 1871 it was eventually given to Kaiser Wilhelm II, yes that Kaiser Bill, he was interested in the German knights of old and decided to restore the castle to it’s former glory. He commission architect Bodo Ebhardt to do the job and a magnificent job he did, it took him 8 years from 1900 to 1908. All was well in Kaiser Bill’s world until 1918 when he had to hand over the keys back to the French, so after spending millions on the restoration he lost it all, but it was worth the €9 each for entry.
Did I mention St Hippolyte, no I didn’t….. but the Tour De France went by
Tour De France went past here….