Château du Pflixbourg

This site was inhabited in ancient times, perhaps as early as the Bronze Age, then reoccupied in the 13th century, being mentioned for the first time in 1220. At an altitude of 425 metres, it was of great military importance because its troops controlled the junction between the plain and the Fecht valley.

It served as the residence of Conrad Werner of Hattstatt, imperial bailiff, in the late 13th century, and it was here that his wife Stephanie, Countess of Ferrette, died.

After many changes of ownership in the 14th and 15th centuries, it passed to Gaspard of Schlick, vice chancellor of the Emperor Sigismond. Sold in 1434 to Smassmann of Ribeaupierre, it was destroyed, it seems, during a conflict between the new owner and the nobles of Hattstatt. Made uninhabitable, the castle was abandoned to nature.

Polygonal in form, the Pflixbourg’s curtain wall encloses a circular keep, a cistern and various houses and outbuildings. The castle was built mainly of granite, on three levels: cellars, a ground floor, and the top floor rooms occupied by the owner and his suite. There were no later additions.

It was classified in the complementary inventory of Historical Monuments in 1968.

A CASTLE WITH A LEGEND:
A White Lady still haunts the ruins of the Plixbourg keep. According to legend, a beautiful princess was transformed by a witch into a monster, half lady and half dragon, and only a knight’s kiss can restore her beauty.