There were many fortifications and defenses at the Haut-Koenigsbourg castle during the Middle Ages. Several drawbridges and four heavy gates were standing in front of the enemy before reaching the entrance to the Lions Gate. A final drawbridge, overhung by a machicolation, stood above a pit 40 ft deep (12 m). Two lions, watching over the last door, were a warning to the invaders. The castle suffered numerous attacks until 1633 when it was destroyed and burnt by the Swedish army and remained abandoned for two centuries.