Village remarquable du Kochersberg Berstett

Berstett has remains of the last castle of De Berstett whose old gate is in the Castle Square. One will notice the "Sprüche" or pious maxims, prayers on the facades of the houses often above the carriage entrance. This is a characteristic of Protestant villages. Some inner courtyards with their "Durchfuhr" (covered entrance passage) and "Stube" (main room completely covered with panelling, waxed wooden panels with the alcove), not to mention collections of old agricultural tools, still exist (private only by appointment). The church contains in its nave the tombstones of the De Berstett family.
The village was named Bersteten in 1120 and in 1441 the nobles of the village obtained half of the village in fief of the bishopric of Strasbourg. Wido De Berstett is the first member of the line of the Lords of Berstett to be mentioned in a document of the Sindelsberg convent in 1120. His son or nephew, Garsilius milles de Bertette reconciled in 1190 with the convent of Hanau over disputed property in the village of Berstett. The Berstett lineage was later interrupted. It counted in its ranks several Stettmeister (aldermen) of Strasbourg and possessed the right of bourgeoisie of the city of Strasbourg while keeping its seat in Berstett. Adam von Berstett definitively introduced the Reformation in the village. It had a castle in Berstett which was plundered by a regiment of Croats in 1638. Jacques Adam de Berstett rebuilt a new residence at the same place in 1742. His son Philippe Reinhard received in 1732 from Louis XV the castral fiefdom of the Lords of Wickersheim and was granted the title of baron on 6 August 1773 for services rendered to the Kingdom of France.