Schrankenfels, Medieval castle ruins in Soultzbach-les-Bains, France

Schrankenfels is a castle ruin perched on a rocky outcrop in the Vosges mountains, dominated by a pentagonal stone keep. The structure rises at approximately 790 meters elevation and displays the remaining walls that once formed part of a fortified compound.

Built in one campaign around 1220-1230, probably by Dietrich von Schrankenfels of the Gueberschwihr family, the castle was held in fief from the Bishop of Strasbourg by the Hattstatt from 1305. It is last recorded as occupied in 1353, was already a ruin by 1431, and a 1470 chronicle mentions deliberate destruction, sometimes placed in the second half of the 14th century.

The castle architecture demonstrates medieval defensive innovations through its arrow slits with splayed niches, marking early developments in Alsatian fortification design.

The ruins are currently not open to visitors due to loose stone and safety concerns. Hiking trails nearby offer safe viewing points from which visitors can see the structure from a distance.

The keep collapsed around 1967, taking part of the surrounding wall with it; the Conseil général du Haut-Rhin had the keep and western shell wall consolidated in 1994. The castle was closed to the public again in 2019 because of falling stones. About 250 m northwest along the same ridge stand the smaller ruins of Haneck.