Château de Bouxwiller

The Château de Bouxwiller was a moated castle situated in the département of Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France, constructed in the 15th century under its lords, the von Lichtenberg family.

In the 18th century, it was the residence of Landgravine Caroline of Hessen-Darmstadt, who was passionate about art and music and transformed Bouxwiller into a "small Versailles" in Alsace, complete with beautiful gardens.

The medieval fortress of the Lichtenberg family was replaced in the 14th century by another construction of the Wasserburg type, located in a basin to the northeast of the city's ramparts, on what is now the Place du Château.

To ensure its defense, this U-shaped building, located on flat terrain, was entirely surrounded by a moat filled with water from the nearby Fischpfuhl spring.

The 16th-century Halle aux Blés, extended by the Saint-Georges castle chapel dating from the 14th century, the carriage house with the Court of Accounts on the upper floor (1702), the chancery (now the town hall) built between 1658 and 1663, the stables (1688), of which only part has been preserved to house the post office, and finally the seigneurial office from 1704, modified in 1956."

The pre-Revolutionary château: watercolour by Lutz, late 18th century (Musée de Bouxwiller)
Plan of the Château and its direct environments
The 18th century gardens