Alt-Wädenswil ruins

Alt-Waedenswil
Alt-Wädenswil ruins
Creation time :	before 1200
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	ruin
Place:	Richterswil
Geographical location	47 ° 12 '47.6 "  N , 8 ° 41' 4.1"  O Coordinates: 47 ° 12 '47.6 "  N , 8 ° 41' 4.1"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred ninety-four thousand three hundred seventy-five  /  229891

The Alt-Wädenswil is the ruins of a hilltop castle on a hill west of the station Burghalden the Swiss Südostbahn on the territory of the municipality Richterswil , in the canton of Zurich .

history

Alt-Wädenswil on the Gyger map from 1667

The barons of Wädenswil ( Wadinswilere ) were first mentioned in a document in 1130 in a letter of foundation from the Fahr Monastery . Their residence, Alt-Wädenswil Castle , was built by the barons in the 13th century. The castle was first mentioned in writing in 1265. The barons' tower, built before 1200, is the oldest part of the castle. Its outer wall shells are made of mighty boulders. In 1287 the last baron Rudolf III sold. in the absence of descendants, the lordship of Wädenswil - today's municipalities of Wädenswil, Richterswil and Uetikon am See - to the Johanniterhaus Bubikon . Wädenswil became a commander of the Johanniter . The Johanniterhaus was built in the 14th century as an Ordensburg with a new moat. The thirteen rooms with a dormitory , refectory , convent , a pilgrims' hostel and a chapel were mainly used by the commander's administration. In the 15th century, the entire castle grounds were surrounded by a tower- reinforced castle wall.

After the Reformation, the Johanniter sold the rule of Wädenswil with all rights to the city of Zurich in 1549. Wädenswil became a bailiwick . Wädenswil Castle was built for the bailiff from 1550 to 1555. The castle had for a Diet decision be razed in 1557 because Schwyz felt threatened by the enlarged city-state Zurich. In 1900 an initiative committee acquired the castle grounds and in 1902 established the Foundation for the Preservation of Alt-Wädenswil Castle. The first excavation work was carried out from 1901 to 1904, followed by further excavation campaigns from 1938 to 1941 and 1983.

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  Freiherrenturm with water well, before 1200

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  Sign board

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  Johanniterhaus 14th century

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  Freiherrenturm with boulders

Web links

Commons : Alt-Wädenswil ruin  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Castle world: Alt-Wädenswil

Individual evidence

1. ↑ site dickemauern.de, alt wädenswil castle