The small village of Saint Hippolyte is at the feet of the Haut-Koenigsbourg castle. In 1516, Franz von Sickingen, a German adventurer, captured it by surprise with 6,000 soldiers. To protect the Val de Lièpvre and Saint-Hippolyte in the future, the Duke of Lorraine entrusted its custody to an Alsatian lord, the Count of Thierstein. Between 1560 and 1600, Alsace experienced a real witch hunt. A massive trial, for instance, brought out 35 women accused of witchcraft, 8 of whom were from Saint-Hippolyte.