Castle of Ottrott

About

The Castles of Ottrott is a medieval castle ruin, above the town of Ottrott, in the Bas-Rhin department of eastern France (Alsace). The site contains the memories of two neighborhoods that were separated by a moat: Lutzelbourg (also: Vorderlutzelbourg) and Rathsamhausen (also: Hinterlutzelbourg).

History: The castles of Ottrott were built on the plateau of Elsberg about 500 meters above the surrounding land. Two ruins, separated by barely fifty meters, now stand here: the "Rathsamhausen" on the west of the site and the "Lutzelbourg" in the east. Recent excavations discovered the foundations of a primitive castle between the current ruins of the castles. This primitive castle, named Old Lutzelbourg, was most definitely built before 1076 on the initiative of the counts of Eguisheim solicitors of Hohenbourg's monastery (Sainte-Odile) located some kilometres away. This first structure was destroyed by the Hohenstaufens at the beginning of the 12th century but was immediately raised again by them to be ultimately threatened to Conrad de Lutzelbourg in 1196. In 1198, it was destroyed by arson by the Eguisheim-Dabos. The construction of the new castle, known in the middle of the 16th...