Visit the Château du Hohlandsbourg in Wintzenheim

by | Updated on 2/11/2023 | Museum and monuments, Open on sundays, With kids | 0 comments

The Hohlandsbourg castle overlooks the village of Wintzenheim, next to Colmar, on the Route des Vins. It is one of the many castles that can be found on this beautiful road on the side of the Vosges and is an ideal place to visit with children in Alsace !

To get there, you have to earn it! The road goes up from Husseren-Les-Châteaux coming from the south and from Wintzenheim coming from the north and crosses the Vosges forest. There are several parking lots where you can park and reach the castle in about ten minutes. It climbs! But generally, when you visit a castle, you need good shoes, right?

History of the Hohlandsbourg Castle

Built in 1279 by Siegfried de Gundolsheim, provost of Colmar under the influence of the Habsburgs, the Hohlandsbourg castle had different owners and underwent several expansions before it was dismantled at the end of the Thirty Years’ War (1648). And since then, the ruins of the castle had been left as they were until they were bought by the Conseil GĂ©nĂ©ral du Haut-Rhin in 1985. Years of work followed to reconstitute certain parts of the castle, mainly with materials found on site, with the help of historical documents. Archaeological excavations were also carried out there before it was reopened to the public in 2013.

What to visit in the Hohlandsbourg castle?

The Hohlandsbourg castle is composed of several spaces but one does not visit old living spaces as it is the case in many castles. Today, there is a stage with a large courtyard where the big summer events take place from June on.

There is a museum space in the old dwelling and kitchen, refurbished with a modern decoration that blends perfectly with the ancient stones.

There is also the large enclosure which can be walked around thanks to the covered way. There, we have a magnificent 360° view!

It takes 2 hours of visit without animations and without the meal. Note that we came across groups of children celebrating birthdays. The castle also organizes weddings and it was tasting day at the brewery. We were therefore entitled to an “exceptional” menu that day, but were not able to try the usual menu.

We tested the guided tour in family!

We did a tour on our own, there is a suggested route on the leaflet we were given at the entrance. But we had the opportunity to join a guided tour. There are about every hour and a quarter. When we arrived at the reception, the guide kindly offered to give us a tour just for us if she wasn’t busy with other visitors. And it adapts to the audience!

Of course, the children are the kings of the castle. She gives us some anecdotes and tells us stories like the traces of “flames” on a wall attributed to a dragon…

To learn more, visit theHohlandsbourg museum. Here you can find a temporary exhibition that changes every year, as well as a permanent exhibition. This last one tells mainly about the daily life in the castle: we discover the uniform of the knight and the halberdier, what we ate during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, how we heated ourselves, the weapons that were used… All this with objects found on site during the excavations. And we arrive to the restoration of the castle from 1985 to 2000 and to the archaeological excavations carried out between 2008 and 2013.

I liked

  • The splendid 360° view!
  • Guided tour with a person in costume
  • The museum space is well laid out, combining modernity with the old stones of the castle
  • Included in the Alsace Pass

I liked less

  • Unfortunately, we were not able to test the “real” menu of the castle’s brasserie because they were in the middle of a tasting session for future brides and grooms.

My photos from the visit of the Hohlandsbourg Castle

Practical information

Rates

The castle applies two price lists, low season and high season. You can see the details of the rates here. Good news: it’s free for children under 6 and there is a family rate (2 adults and 2 children over 6)! It’s also free for Pass Alsace holders.

Schedules

The castle is open from the beginning of April until the end of the school vacations of La Toussaint. You can consult the detailed schedule on the castle’s website.

Access

By car

The address is : route des cinq château – 68920 Wintzenheim. If you come from the north, go through Wintzenheim and if you come from the south, through Husseren-Les-Châteaux. It is necessary to count approximately:

  • 12 km from Colmar (about 20 minutes)
  • 45 km from Mulhouse (about 45 minutes)
  • 85 km from Strasbourg (about 1 hour)
By public transport

This is not possible :-/

Clémence

Clémence

Clémence aime dénicher des bons plans pour sa petite famille mais pas que. Curieuse de tout, elle a toujours aimé vadrouiller en Alsace - et ailleurs - et partager ses expériences avec ses amis et tout ceux qui en avaient besoin. Elle est très fière de pouvoir contribuer aux aventures de Mon Week-End en Alsace !

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