Kaysersberg old town & Schlossberg castle
Half-timbered old town below the ruined Schlossberg castle; Albert Schweitzer's birthplace.
History
The ruin above you gave the town its name — "the emperor's mountain."
The castle known as the Schlossberg was built by the Emperor Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire, and the name Kaysersberg comes from it: "the emperor's mountain" in German. The state's protection record gives 1227 as a building campaign and dates the wall linking the castle to the town's fortifications to the first third of the 13th century. The castle ruins were classified as a historic monument on 1 October 1841, and what remains of that wall was listed in 1995. The castle belonged to the state until it was transferred to the commune on 1 January 2008.
Sources: kaysersberg-vignoble.fr › communes-historiques, pop.culture.gouv.fr › PA00085474 · checked 16 October 2026
A Nobel Peace Prize laureate was born here in 1875.
Albert Schweitzer, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1952, was born in Kaysersberg in 1875. The Centre Schweitzer, dedicated to his work for peace, honours him by carrying his values forward.
Source: kaysersberg-vignoble.fr · checked 16 October 2026
Three villages, one commune since 2016.
Kaysersberg, Kientzheim and Sigolsheim have been united since 2016 as the new commune of Kaysersberg Vignoble.
Source: kaysersberg-vignoble.fr · checked 16 October 2026
From the route
Leaves the route in Kaysersberg on day 3; 4.4 km one-way with 50 m of climbing on paved road.