Kaysersberg

Albert Schweitzer's home village

A former imperial town, Kaysersberg has succeeded in retaining all its mediaeval splendour. The village boasts an impressive range of architectural heritage sites with its ancient houses, its castle ruins, its fortified bridge and its church. The village owes its distinctive identity to its double-gabled Gothic houses and to its numerous buildings dating from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.

The past meets the present in Kaysersberg

History has certainly left its mark here: from the Albert Schweitzer Museum which reminds us that the Nobel peace prize started life in Kaysersberg, through to the origins of the town's leading grape variety: the Pinot Gris. It was Lazare Schwendi, the village bailiff, who was said to have brought back the original vines from the town of Tokay when he was fighting in Hungary. Today, the Pinot Gris from Kaysersberg is considered to be one of Alsace's leading wine varieties! The village is perfect for visiting at any time of year, but this is particularly true in September when the harvests are underway and when Kaysersberg is at its most attractive. At the end of the year, the village also organises its traditional Christmas market, one of the most authentic of its kind in Alsace.