Château de Bilstein, Medieval castle ruins in Urbeis, France

Château de Bilstein is a medieval castle ruin located in the Vosges Mountains at approximately 630 meters elevation. The site features a square keep and remains of a double curtain wall that once fortified the hilltop position.

The castle was probably built in the early 13th century, certainly before 1230, when a forged charter written between 1205 and 1232 names it as held by Duke Frederick the One-Eyed. In 1215 Gertrude of Dabo brought it to Theobald I of Lorraine as dowry; in 1292 Otto IV of Ochsenstein took it by force. In 1310 it was divided in two, and in 1314 or 1315 the Habsburgs sold their share to the Bishop of Strasbourg.

The castle structure demonstrates medieval military architecture with its high pointed-arch door entrance and defensive fortification system.

The ruins are freely accessible and can be visited without entrance fees at any time. Sturdy hiking boots are recommended because the terrain is uneven and can be muddy depending on the weather.

The castle is often confused with the Bernstein, about ten kilometres away above Dambach-la-Ville: legend places Adélaïde, daughter of Bishop Matthieu of Toul, in the Bilstein dungeons around 1217, but the sources attribute her imprisonment to the Bernstein. The Bilstein's own name may come from a family of counts, or from Bildstein, "stone of the image", after legends of miraculous Virgins found at such sites.