The construction and origins of the House of Ochsenstein

The castle is thought to have been built in the late 12th century. It is part of a chain of Vosges castles near Saverne which were built to defend the passage from the Alsace plain to Lorraine. The Fiefdom of Ochsenstein was carved out of the lands of the Marmoutier Abbey by the Bishops of Metz.

The first recorded mention of a Lord of Ochsenstein is in 1187: Bourcard Ochsenstein signed a charter by Frederick Barbarossa (Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) confirming his possessions^[2] to the Koenigsbruck Abbey. Therefore, the castle must have already been in existence as the custom at the time was that descendants took their surname from the name of their castle.

The succession of Otto I

When he became ill in 1217, Otto I shared his land among his sons. Two of them entered the clergy and the other three inherited the castles. Otto II, the eldest, received Ochsenstein Castle - known then as ‘der Fels’ (the rock); the service of the knights who guarded it (the Burgmänner); the mountain on which it is built; and some nearby farms. The second son, Eberhard, received the Château de Wachelheim: this castle was probably the one that was built on the third stone spur.^[3] Conrad, the third son, received the Château de Greifenstein but had to recognise the usufruct of the nobles who occupied it. Otto I survived his illness and lived until 1241. At that point, his children inherited his legacy according to the plans he had laid out in 1217.

Alliance with the Habsburgs

Rodolphe of Habsburg

Otto III,^[4] the son of Otto II, married Cunégonde of Habsburg. She was the sister of Rudolph of Habsburg who was elected King of the Romans in 1273. The Ochsenstein home thus gained great influence and the castle became the centre of a large Fiefdom that included Marlenheim and Barr (1321).

Otto IV,^[4] son of Otto III, remained loyal to Rodolphe of Habsburg, accompanying him in his military campaigns. As a reward for this loyalty, Rodolphe appointed him landvogt of Alsace and Breisgau (a provincial bailiff). Otto IV’s zeal and his growing influence caused him to make many enemies, including the Bishop of Strasbourg, Conrad of Lichtenberg, and Guillaume III of Hohenstein.

The destruction of the Petit Ochsenstein

In 1284, Guillaume of Hohenstein captured the Château d'Échéry (or Eckerich) from Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine. Otto IV tried to restore the castle to the Duke.In his absence, Guillaume of Hohenstein and the Bishop of Strasbourg attacked Ochsenstein. The Burgmänner who defended it were hunted and the castle was destroyed (most likely burned). It is probably the Petit Ochsenstein which was destroyed but it was quickly rebuilt by Otto VI.^[5]

The progressive estrangement of the castle

The Lords of Ochsenstein did not always live in their castles: Otto IV lived mostly in Haguenau Palace, the residence of the Landvogt. Otto V,^[4] appointed Landvogt of Alsace and Speyergau when the Habsburgs returned to power, lived in Landau.

The Ochsensteins owned another residence in Strasbourg since 1259. It stood in the current Rue Brulée ("burnt street"), which was named after Ochsensteinergasse and occupied part of the current Town Hall site. The Burgmänner who had guarded the Châteaux d'Ochsenstein no longer lived there. The castle was used by the Ochsensteins as collateral for loans (around 1400, Otto VII hired out his castles for a thousand florins).

Another destruction of the Petit Ochsenstein

The Ochsenstein decline began in the late 14th century. Rudolph II led many conflicts including one which caused the city of Strasbourg to besiege the castle in 1382. Once conquered, a small garrison was added, but then the castle staff was cut as their maintenance was deemed too expensive. Trendel, like Lehmann, assumes this happened in the Petit Ochsenstein castle.^[6]

Whichever it was, the castle had been rebuilt when, in 1403, Frédéric of Ochsenstein signed an agreement with his brothers on the sharing of the Ochsenstein castles’ maintenance costs. It mentions that they should contribute to the expenses concerning "the three castles" if they wanted to come and live there.^[7]

The sharing of the castle

Like his father, Frédéric was involved in many conflicts, notably with the Margrave of Baden. Frédéric was obliged to give him half of the Château d'Ochsenstein in 1411 after an arbitration which was conducted by his stepfather, Hanemann II, Count of Deux-Ponts-Bitche. One clause provided for the return of the entire castle to Frédéric in case of the Margrave’s death. However, Frédéric died first, on 17 October 1411, without an heir. His brother, Volmar, inherited the castle and left holy orders to start a family.

This did not affect the tensions between the Ochsensteins and the Margrave of Baden. Hence, Volmar was forced to give up half of the Château d'Ochsenstein on 11 November 1411. Volmar tried to fight against its influence by Louis IV of Lichtenberg the right to his castle, but he also had to give this right to the Margrave and his sons in 1417. In addition, to help his brother, Jean, to become provost of the general chapter of Strasbourg, Volmar yielded to the bishop of Strasbourg, Guillaume II of Diest, half of the castle.

The legacy is passed to the Deux-Ponts-Bitches

Georges of Ochsnstein, who succeeded his father, Volmar, in 1426, also came into many conflicts. The ransoms he had to collect when he was captured contributed to the ruin of his home. In 1485 after he died, it was his sister Cunegonde, the wife of Henry I of Deux-Ponts-Bitche, who inherited the estate. Guillaume de Ribeaupierre attempted to challenge this legacy by arguing that the Ochsenstein legacy was "masculine" and could not fall to a woman. Henry obtained the backing of the Bishop of Metz for three years (1487 -1490]), before the bishop retracted it.^[8]

Successive repurchasing and reconstruction

Economic problems led George de Deux-Ponts-Bitche to mortgage the castle with Ulric of Rathsamhausen-zum-Stein for a value of 2800 florins. The castle was then passed to Sébastien de Landsberg who had received a dowry from his wife, Anne of Rathsamhausen; the couple settled in the castle in 1527 although it is described as being dilapidated.

In 1555, Jacques de Deux-Ponts-Bitche redeemed the Landsberg’s mortgage. Four years later, when receiving the oath of allegiance of the subjects of the lordship of Ochsenstein, he launched the renovation work (it is likely that the castle was adapted to accommodate firearms at this time). However, in 1559, whilst he was preparing to live there, a fire consumed the castle, reducing it to ruins.

Demolition

Philip V, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg, inherited the ruined castle after Jacques’ death in 1570; the Linange-Wesburg family protested and it was only in 1691 that a compromise was reached. In the 18th century, the castle’s stones were used to build a hunting lodge near the Haberacker farm; it has since been in a state of collapse.