Château du Kagenfels

Ottrott, France, France

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Château du Kagenfels (also called Kaguenfels or Kagenburg) is a ruined medieval castle in the Forest of Obernai within the commune of Ottrott in the Bas‑Rhin département of Alsace, France, standing at an altitude of about 673 meters.

It was built around 1262 by Albrecht (Albert) Kagen, a ministerialis (knight‑official) of the Bishop of Strasbourg, and takes its name from this founder, who gave his family name to the fortress. The castle changed hands several times, passing to the nobles of Hohenstein, then Utenheim and Ramstein, and in 1559 was sold to Lucas Wischbech (Luc Wisebock), who repaired and enlarged it, before the town of Obernai bought it in 1563.

It was destroyed multiple times in the 14th and 15th centuries, rebuilt around 1430 and enlarged again around 1507, then abandoned by the end of the 16th century and left in ruins after the Thirty Years’ War, with its ruined state recorded in 1664. Since 2002 an archaeological dig and restoration programme has been underway, revealing a richer and larger castle than previously thought, and the site is now accessible via marked hiking trails from Ottrott for free, though the ruins are still in a poor state and not officially protected as a listed monument historique.