En un regard
Le château en bref
The site of the Eselsburg, also called Alte Gabel, crowns at around 460 metres above sea level the summit of the spur known as the "Gabel", above the Michelbach valley, near Michelbach am Wald, a district of Öhringen in Hohenlohe. It is reached by a steep climb from an intermediate terrace at about 380 metres. Its name, handed down by oral tradition, is said to be linked to a donkey track, an old trade route crossing the valley. Neither its founders nor its owners are known. It was probably a small lookout post with a tower watching over the eastern side of the valley, perhaps also a shelter or a post for guarding herds on the neighbouring pastures. A square depression about five metres across, partly cut into the rock, marks the site of a building; squared foundation stones, mortar, brick fragments and fire-reddened daub show that a half-timbered structure burned down here. Surface finds indicate occupation from the Middle Ages until at least the seventeenth century. Today only these discreet traces remain.