The history of Andlau and its castles

Coming from the Alsace Wine Route, Le Hohwald or Strasbourg, you enter the Val d'Eléon, the original name of Andlau in 880. In the Middle Ages Andlau had the status of a town; today it has around 1,900 inhabitants.

Andlau's convent was founded in 880 by Saint Richardis, an empress, daughter of Erchangar, Count of Alsace, and wife of Charles the Fat.

Charles the Fat, deposed as emperor in 887 at the Diet of Tribur, repudiated his wife. According to legend, Richardis built the abbey on the spot where a she-bear was scratching at the ground to bury her cub, which Richardis brought back to life. This spot is said to be the hollow in the crypt of the abbey church. The bear followed Richardis everywhere and became the symbol of Andlau's foundation.

Until 1844, the site was believed to have healing powers for leg ailments and headaches. The stone she-bear, a Romanesque sculpture, stood outside the abbey church; in 1857 it was moved into the crypt, in front of the hollow. The bear was even credited with powers of fertility.

Richardis was canonised in 1049, when the Alsatian pope Leo IX consecrated the abbey church of Saints Peter and Paul. Her relics rest in a reliquary behind the altar.

The bear still has pride of place in Andlau: in 1998 the Hospitaliers brotherhood donated the statue of a bear eating a bunch of grapes, on the school square, a work by Count Roland d'Andlau.

Surrounded by vineyards and forests, Andlau is the starting point for many waymarked walks, bike rides and scenic drives.

Spesbourg Castle

This granite sentinel, perched on a rocky outcrop at an altitude of 460 metres, watches over the Val d'Eléon. The commune of Andlau bought it back in 1904; since 1985 an association has looked after its preservation and the upkeep of its access paths.

Built in 1247 to control the Andlau valley and the abbey, it is made of rusticated granite blocks and has two parts: the main residence and the lower courtyard. The lord's residence has pointed-arch windows on its east side, some still decorated with sandstone; the square keep stands at the western end.

In 1386, on the death of Walter de Dicka, the castle passed to the lords of Andlau. Between 1622 and 1625, during the Thirty Years' War, it was reduced to ruins while serving as a refuge for the local people.

Listed as a historic monument in 1967, it was restored and consolidated in 1999-2000, and its keep made safe.

Haut-Andlau Castle

Standing at 451 metres on the Silberberg, it can be recognised from afar by its two towers. Begun in 1246 by Eberhard d'Andlau and completed in 1344, it is built entirely of granite on an elongated polygonal plan and overlooks two valleys: the Kirneck to the north, towards Barr, and the Andlau to the south.

Restored between 1534 and 1589 by the lords of Andlau, it was destroyed in 1678 by Marshal de Créqui. During the Revolution, a merchant bought it and sold it off piece by piece: woodwork, roofing, ironwork and stones were reused in other buildings in the valley.

Its main entrance, at the level of the lower courtyard, was designed using a staggered-approach technique that multiplied the traps for would-be invaders. It is flanked by two towers 10 metres in diameter.

The lord's residence, 37 by 9 metres, is lit by large windows facing the plain: the ground floor was used to store wine, the first floor, with Gothic windows, was the living quarters, and the second floor had Renaissance windows. With so many openings, it was more a castle of prestige than a fortress; forest wardens were still living there in 1796.

Bought in 1818 by Count Antoine-Henri d'Andlau to save it from destruction, and consolidated in 1859 and again in 1928 by the Club Vosgien, it has been a listed historic monument since 1926 and is looked after by the Friends of the Castle association.