The Haut-Koenigsbourg fortified castle embodied the western border of Kaiser Wilhelm II's empire. The Marienburg fortress in Poland marked the eastern one. When he received the Haut-Koenigsbourg, the emperor did not want the ruin to be consolidated. He ordered a complete restoration. He insisted that Alsace was, is, and will be German and that this identity would be strengthened by reviving its medieval era. He had his coat of arms intertwined with Emperor Charles V's, of whom he claimed to be the heir. The strategic position of the castle, which dominates the entire Alsace plain, added prestige to the project.