The Thierstein family started the reconstruction of the Haut-Koenigsbourg castle and its adaptation to military architecture in 1479. Their coat of arms is offered above the access door to the interior courtyard. In Old German, their name comes from thier which means hind, and stein, stone. The Thierstein coat of arms does indeed represent a doe on a green and rocky terrace. The counts of Thierstein sometimes amused themselves by changing the animal present on their blazon: sometimes a dog, sometimes a wolf, or a sheep. It is always placed on a stone so that the two associated figures would form a talking rebus.