Chateau du Haut-Kœnigsbourg

The first records of a castle built by the Hohenstaufens date back to 1147. Staufenberg, as it was called at the time, sat high above the Alsace plain at an altitude of more than 700 metres. This rocky, promontory site was ideal for observing the main routes in the region, and provided a strategic fall-back point. The fortress changed its name to Kœnigsbourg (royal castle) in around 1192.

The castle was handed over to the Tiersteins by the Hapsburgs following its destruction in 1462. They rebuilt and enlarged it, installing a defensive system designed to withstand artillery fire. This was the golden period for the Hohkœnigsbourg ("Hoh" meaning… "High"!)

Two lovely churches in Sélestat

In old town Sélestat there are two lovely old churches. The oldest is Eglise Ste. Foy and the "younger" church is Eglise St. Georges. Both are worth a visit. In case you didn't know, Sélestat has the first recorded mention of the Christmas tree in Dec. 21, 1521 so I guess that makes it the home of the Christmas tree. There is also a bread museum worth a visit.

Wissembourg

Wissembourg is a tiny village of northern L'Alsace, in the department of Bas-Rhin (lower Rhine). River Lauter (one of Rhine's west inflowing rivers) is traversing, which makes it even more pittoresque for me - a kind of small Venice atmosphere (I like small creeks or streams anywhere). Wissembourg was most probably founded around 1180, when the cloister had it's early days. Later, it was surrounded by fortress walls. Many very old houses, partly half timbered, or with thatched roofs, can be discovered when wandering around. One of the most famous ones is the La Maison du Sel (salt house), seen in pic 1 in the back. It was built in 1448, first as hospital, but was transformed into a salt house later on. It had it's importance as such, as salt was a very important ingredient of daily food (well is still today), and the kings of middle age took over salt trade at a point in time, and ... to guarantee their lifestyle... raised taxes on salt. Ahh, I like to learn when doing reseach for tips - so what I learned now is: any taxes, also the salt tax, have been set up and collected quite drastic (well, aren't they all the same during all centuries ?), and the increasing dissatisfaction with the taxes finally lead to the french revolution.