A Pretty Good Castle (And Big, Too!)

Getting oriented in Kaysersberg

Monday, September 28 -- Lured by the listing of a good farmer's market in the nearby Alsatian town of Kaysersberg, we set off in morning sunshine.  The name of the town means Emperor's Mountain in German.
 
The fortress that dominates the city skyline serves as a reminder of both its strategic importance and its warlike past, but we did not bother to walk up there. Together with the rest of Alsace-Lorraine, Kaysersberg was very much part of Germany during the period between the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War.  The German influence is evident in shopkeeper's names and signposts.

Emperor Constantine

16th Century Fountain

Kaysersberg is said to be one of the finest wine growing areas in Alsace. (But then they all say that!)    The stories have it that the first vines were brought here in the 16th century from Hungary, and of course wine production is still an important aspect of the town's economy today. Wine produced from the Pinot gris variety is a local specialty.

Romanesque portal on l'Église Ste Croix

Weiss River

We wandered around the picturesque town, taking in the sights and looking into the little shops. Like other villages along the rue de vin this one features lots of half timbered houses, flower boxes overflowing with blossoms, and the river Weiss runs through it.

The fortified bridge over the Weiss was in the bright sunshine and a magnet for all the tourists, it seemed.

 
Kaysersberg is also the birthplace of of Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965), the famed theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician. His home is here, but on the basis of Rick Steve's expert recommendations, we thought it probably not worth the price of admission. 




The French seem to have an enthusiasm for recycling which manifests itself in twin and even triplet trash cans all over the cities.

The market itself turned out to be something of a disappointment.  Held in a car parking lot, it seemed to attract only a smattering of vendors selling vegetables, clothing, flowers, and some refrigerated trucks with meats, pate, and cheeses. There was nothing wrong with it except that it was much less in volume and local color than the ones I remembered from the Bordeaux region a few years ago.   
 

Port Haute from 51 Grand Rue

We soon moved on toward lunch, driving to Bergheim, a small village on the route des vins. We drove into the town, right through the 14th century Porte Haute fortified gate, looking for our restaurant, the Wistub du Sommelier at 51 Grand Rue.  That turned out to be the main street which goes right through the gate. It was just a hundred yards into the village.  I went back and put the car in the free parking lot outside the gate near the old lime tree.  I later read that it's a really old lime tree, thought to date from the 1300's.

Driving into Bergheim

 The Wistub had been recommended to us by mutual friends who described the "pork cheeks in red wine sauce" dish as "one of the best meals" they had ever eaten in Europe. Or something like that.

The restaurant's decor was cooly efficient, in smooth dark woods, grey place mats, and white napkins rolled around the silverware.  We began with a glass of crémant, the Alsace version of champagne, which even Dick thought was pretty good.  It is a little less bubbly than some sparkling wines.  With our meal, we had a nice Emil Beyer riesling wine from Eguisheim. And I thought the pork cheeks were pretty good too!

Wistub du Sommelier

Here, as in almost every restaurant during our two week trip, we  found the staff to be almost perfectly comfortable in English.  They routinely volunteered a description of the dish and its ingredients when serving you, and did not take anyone's plate away until all at the table were finished with their meal.   




It was not a long distance from Bergheim, but it was a steep climb up to château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg.  We wound back and forth up the switchbacks on the D1bis highway, with a certain amount of discussion of why you name a road the "D1 to" without saying "where to?" (In German, Dick said, "bis" means "until" or "to.")  On one of these curves was also where we met the Japanese tourist driving down the wrong side of the road -- a near miss!

Haut-Kœnigsbourg is a grand medieval castle near Orschwiller in the Vosges mountains just west of Sélestat.  It's right on the border between Haut Rhin and Bas Rhin, and it has a commanding view over the surrounding countryside and villages down on the plain. We had a look at the views before heading on foot up to the castle itself.

The castle dates from the early 1100's and was used by successive powers from the Middle Ages until the Thirty Years' War when it was abandoned. In the period from 1900 to 1908 it was rebuilt at the behest of the German emperor Wilhelm II.  His idea seems to have been to solidfy relations between Germany and Alsace, and to establish the links between his own Hohenzollern family and the Habsburg rulers of the Holy Roman Empire.  Wilhelm II wanted to legitimise himself and the House of Hohenzollern at the head of the Second Empire, and to assure himself as worthy heir of the Hohenstaufens and the Habsburgs. 

The architect of the reconstruction attempted to rebuild the castle with all its many rooms, as near as possible, as it was on the eve of the Thirty Years' War. Walking through the castle with the audio guide was a pretty good introduction to early twentieth century history and the reign of Wilhelm II. 

Marcia took a nasty fall here while looking up at the ceilings and walking from one room to another.  While she limped a bit for the rest of the day, she did not suffer permanent damage.

 

Haute Koenigsberg

No doubt, Haute Koenigsberg is a very cool castle because it shows what life was like in the old days. It gets about a half million visitors annually, and as Marcia said, "Seen from afar, this looks like a castle should!" 

On the way home we stopped at the hypermarché E.Leclerc in Ribeauville for some supplies and gas for the car.  

As usual, buying gas is something of a comedy routine as Dick and I try to guess what the automated pump wants us to do next with the credit card, the pin number, or the pump handle.  It's always an adventure...I should have taken a picture.