2. Trésor des Vosges du Nord : De château en château étape 2 : d'Obersteinbach à Lembach

Built at an altitude of 572 m, this ruin, first mentioned in 1247, is the highest in the Palatinate. After a robber knight attacking passers-by took shelter here, the castle was besieged in 1270 and illegitimately taken by the Fleckensteins. The castle changed hands frequently from 1330 onwards, before losing its military role and becoming a bailiff's residence in the 15th century. Plundered by Croatian soldiers in 1635, burned in 1644, it was finally destroyed by Montclar in 1680.

This semi-troglodyte castle built in, above and around a rock at an altitude of 550 m dates from the 13th century. Attacked twice in the 15th century, the new owners built important defensive works. But the castle was largely destroyed during a siege in 1523. It was rebuilt between 1571 and 1590 but was definitively destroyed by the troops of Montclar in 1680. The castle offers a magnificent view of the Palatinate to the north and the Steinbach valley to the south.

Built at the end of the 12th century at an altitude of 530 m and 300 m from the Hohenbourg, then ceded to the Ochsensteins, the castle became a den of robber knights before being besieged and destroyed by the troops of the Lichtenbergs and the bishop of Strasbourg in 1386. It was not rebuilt. Today, few remains remain except for traces of a pentagonal keep and a dwelling on the northern part, a cistern serving as access to the southern part, a spiral staircase and a well.

This castle, mentioned for the first time in 1250, was built to protect the seigneury of Bitche and was destroyed in the 16th century. Built on a sandstone rock 20 m high and 60 m long, one can still see the small square keep with rusticated stones, the remains of the dwelling, as well as a filtration cistern, traces of construction and the lower courtyard.