Château de Ramstein

About

Ramstein Castle is a ruined castle located in the municipality of Scherwiller, in the Lower Rhine. Probably built at the end of the 13th century by Otto IV of Ochsenstein, the Ramstein fell from the beginning of the 14th century into the hands of the Habsburgs and then the Counts of Württemberg in the second half of this century. The only siege he seems to have suffered in the Middle Ages, during the Dachstein War, ends with his ruin by the Strasbourgs.

After being rehabilitated, it remained inhabited until at least the first half of the sixteenth century, but was definitively abandoned after being burned by the Swedes in 1633. Long considered to have been built to attack the castle of Ortenbourg, the Ramstein was presented as the very archetype of the castle of siege in most publications from 1898 to the late 1990s. However, new research at the beginning of the twenty-first century has significantly undermined this claim, demonstrating that its location is not suitable for such use, while more favourable sites were available.

The main vestige of the Ramstein is its imposing tower-habitat, although it remains that...