Nine centuries of history permeate the walls of the Haut-Koenigsbourg castle. Since the 12th century, it has not ceased to be rebuilt and partially destroyed during incessant wars, both internal or with Austria, Germany, and Sweden. It would have sheltered nearly 200 people at the end of the 15th century, but it was burnt and destroyed in 1633 during the Thirty Years' War. It remained abandoned for more than two centuries before regaining its dominant position over the Alsace plain in 1908, after a restoration ordered by German Emperor Wilhelm II.