Wulp ruins
| Bulge | ||
|---|---|---|
 View to the west, in the foreground the foundations of the old square tower |
||
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Place: | Küsnacht | |
| Geographical location | 47 ° 19 '17.7 " N , 8 ° 36' 21.1" E | |
| Height: | 570 m above sea level M. | |
|
||
The Wulp ruin is the ruin of a hilltop castle in the Küsnachter Tobel at 570 m on a spur above Küsnacht on Lake Zurich . The remains of the former Wulp Castle in their current form date from the High Middle Ages .
Surname
The name appears for the first time in the Klingenberg Chronicle written around 1460: wurp by küssnacht . In the Brennwald chronicle around 1520 the … vesti Wulsch zuo Küsnach on Lake Zurich… is mentioned. The name "Wulp" in its current form appears for the first time in 1548 in the chronicle of Brennwald's son-in-law Johannes Stumpf . Heinrich Boxler interprets the name Wulp as a derivation of the Old High German hwarb (= rotation) in the meaning of "twisted hill", which are numerous in the heavily eroded area of the Küsnachter Tobel. The sound shift from r to l is not unusual.
In the tax book of the city of Zurich, the name of a Wulper family appears several times in the period around 1400, who ran a farm on what is now known as the Wulpwiese, which is believed to be part of the castle. So it is conceivable that the name of the Wulper farm on the meadow was carried over to the castle.
In the canton map of Jos Murer from 1566 two castles are entered above Küsnacht: the Balb and the Wurp, whereby the place with the today's ruin Wulp bears the name Balb; A place on the other side of the ravine between Itschnach and Zumikon was designated with Wurp. Only in the map of Hans Conrad Gyger from 1667 is the Wulp correctly entered; Gyger drew the Balb above Erlenbach - although it is uncertain whether a castle ever stood there.
It is conceivable that the officially documented Messrs. Von Balb sat there before the destruction of the Wulp in 1267, but then set up their own seat with their own coat of arms, which could have confused Murer. In 1692, Hans Erhard Escher mentions in his description of Lake Zurich: Whether the village […] can be seen / where the beautiful and fortress castle Wurp / or Wulp stood, so that of Balb owned by the lords of Regensberg ...
coat of arms
In Gerold Edlibach's book of arms there is a coat of arms of the Lords of Wulp; a foot clad with a pointed shoe descends from the clouds towards the earth. Murer and Gyger adopted the coat of arms for their cards; Murer drew it the wrong way round.
The coat of arms goes back to a statement by Lütold von Regensberg , who was besieged by Rudolf von Habsburg on the Wulp : If I have one foot in the sky and the other on the earth, then I will put one foot down, unz (until) I'll talk about whether the castle would like to win someone .
history
Document mentions
There are no documents about the origin of Burg Wulp. In the Acta Murensia , the chronicle of the foundation of the Muri monastery from the 12th century, an Eghardus de Chüsnach is mentioned who is said to have owned a castle near Lake Zurich around 1095. It is unclear whether this meant Wulp Castle.
A register of property belonging to the Mülner family from 1336, in which a Burgguot ze Kusenach is mentioned, is clearer . Here, too, it is not possible to clearly determine whether this meant the Wulp; it could also have meant the Höchhus Küsnacht , which was then owned by the Mülner.
In his chronicle of the city of Zurich, written in 1432, Hans Gloggner mentions that on May 25, 1267 Count Rudolf von Habsburg, together with the city of Zurich, besieged and conquered a castle near Küsnacht during the Regensberg feud . It can be assumed here that it was the Wulp, even if the name is not mentioned. Another chronicle from 1466 confirms this: ... According to this, the one from Zurich for the castle of Küssnach uf dem Tobel. " Hans Erhard Escher also mentions the destruction of the castle: «… Schloss Wulp […], which A. 1268 occupied by the people of Zurich / with the help of Count Rudolffen von Habspurg | taken / and destroyed in the ground .
Johannes Stumpf wrote a first description in his chronicle of 1548: But now a castle appears whether the village Küssznach in the forest / if you walk over to Guldinen or towards Egk (Egg) / on the right seyten next to the path / can still be seen digs and decayed moors of a large and magnificent fortification / as we are in the old Zürichercronicke called Wuolp or Wuorp.
The legendary destruction of the Wulp sparked the imagination of artists in the 18th century. An example of this is a dramatic depiction by Johann Melchior Füssli , which appeared on New Year's Day 1717. It shows the Wulp as a large building complex that has just been destroyed by the departing Count Rudolf von Habsburg and his team. The title was Das Schloss Wurp or Wulp bey Itschnen in the Küsnachter Berg which was responsible for Frei Herren von Regensberg and was captured and destroyed by the Zürichere under the leadership of Graaff Rodolph von Habsburg.
After it was destroyed or abandoned around 1270, the castle fell into disrepair. Heinrich Zeller-Werdmüller reported in 1895 that he had seen nothing of the castle, but that 50 years earlier, considerable ruins of the tower were said to have been visible.
Digs
1920-1923
On January 31, 1918, the President of the Küsnacht Beautification Association proposed to Jacques Bruppacher that the ruins of Wulp Castle should be uncovered. In order to save costs, voluntary work should be done by the members of the association on Saturday afternoons. On August 30, 1919, the Küsnacht timber corporation, as the owner of the hill, approved the excavation and on Saturday, May 8, 1920 the excavations began. When, in addition to the remains of the foundations of a tower, a multi-part castle complex came to light, work continued until September 1923. The ruins were officially opened to the public on May 24, 1924. Around 2100 hours were worked on 106 Saturday afternoons. Most of the cost of 6000 francs was used to renovate the walls. Contributions came from the Antiquarian Society of Zurich , the Canton of Zurich and the federal government. In 1923 the facility was placed under federal protection.
Results
After the work was completed, a floor plan was drawn up in 1923, on which all the identified wall sections were drawn. In a small notebook with the title «Wulpgrabungen», the names of those involved and the objects found are mentioned in key words; Their locations were also entered in the plan. However, the notes are too short to be able to draw conclusions from the results of the excavation. Nevertheless, they show that the Wulp was a multi-part system that was built in at least two construction phases. From the first castle, the foundation of the mighty square tower remained at the highest point of the hill, to which further walls were attached to the south and east. In the lowest layers, the wall was around 3.2 meters thick.
The older system was later demolished and replaced by a new one. An extensive ring wall surrounded the new facility. Access was through the north side of the curtain wall.
1961–1962
After 40 years in the open air, the wall crowns and remains of the wall threatened to crumble again. The Küsnacht architect Christian Frutiger therefore suggested that the walls be secured again and also to protect them from frost and moisture by adding earth to the sides. In addition, the remains of the wall found in 1922/23 should be dug up again so that they can be examined more closely. In the summer of 1961, a group of scouts led by Frutiger began the excavation work, which lasted until November. The renovation work on the walls was carried out by workers from the construction company C. Sander from Küsnacht. They secured the top of the walls with modern mortar and removed the rubble from the well. The castle researcher Karl Heid from Dietikon was entrusted with the scientific management.
Results
The excavations revealed that there must have been a third construction phase between the already known systems.
- The oldest castle consisted of a few stone buildings leaning against the curtain wall. A time allocation is uncertain.
- The second phase includes the massive square tower and probably the cistern and a building in the northwest corner. This complex is dated around 1200.
- During the third construction phase, the tower was demolished except for the foundations. A round tower was placed astride the ring wall on the east side . The space enclosed by the wall was divided in the middle by a transverse wall: in the east was the overbuilt part with the palas and other rooms, in the west the outer bailey, which was uninhabited apart from a building in the northwest corner .
It was still considered certain that the castle was stormed and destroyed by Rudolf von Habsburg in 1267, although the archaeological findings did not provide a clear picture of violent destruction.
1978
In order to protect the trees in the west of the area, there was no safety work there during the last renovation. However, roots that had penetrated had caused damage to the walls over the decades, which threatened to collapse and had to be renovated. The renovation program was again developed by Christian Frutiger. This time, too, the work was carried out with the help of boy scouts who collected the fallen stones at the foot of the castle hill and carried them up.
The foundation of the outer perimeter wall was exposed and stabilized. Collapsed walls were rebuilt with Bollenstones, the core was filled with concrete.
Results
It turned out that numerous stones from the old tower in the center of the complex as well as stones from window and door walls had been used for the construction of the curtain wall; the curtain wall must have been built from the building blocks of an older castle.
The oval tower with a straight edge, which was placed on the ring wall in the east, offered a riddle; No other example of such a tower is known from Swiss castle history from that time. Since impact edges were justified with the advent of firearms, Frutiger concluded that the tower and with it the facility must have been rebuilt after the destruction of 1267. He referred to the Mülner knights of Zurich as the builders. Today, other architectural observations suggest that it was built after the middle of the 13th century. It is possibly the earliest example of a round tower with a baffle edge in Swiss castle history.
1980-1982
Since the excavations of 1962 did not produce any informative findings, the Küsnacht Beautification Association decided in 1979 to commission another excavation in the western part of the area. In the summer of 1980 the area was divided into 11 areas of 4 × 4 meters, each separated by a walkway around 1.5 meters wide. In the summers of 1981 and 1982, the work was continued according to a simplified principle inside and outside the area with exploratory trenches.
Results
The excavations led to two surprising results: The foundations of the enclosing walls lay deep in the marl layer, which was previously considered to have grown, 3.2 meters below the present surface; so the layer must have been put in to level the uneven surface of the mound. In addition, further remains of the wall were found under this layer and a thin layer of fire in one corner of the wall. Using the C14 method , it could be dated to the 8th century. Presumably, the walls served as foundations on which simple half-timbered buildings were erected.
In addition, shards from the Late Bronze and Roman times were found on the north-western corner of the hill .
Settlement history
After 70 years of research on the Wulp, the following findings can be summarized with regard to the history of the settlement:
Bronze age
The shards from the late Bronze Age are the oldest traces of settlement on the hill. No traces of settlement were found; if any, they were removed by the profound earthworks during construction in the Middle Ages.
Roman times
Even here, despite the finds of coins and ceramic shards, there are no concrete traces of settlement. A large number of fragments of hypocausal tubes speak for buildings on the hill, the remains of which, however, were also removed in the Middle Ages.
Early middle ages
The foundations of a 4 × 6 meter building, which was built half into the ground at the southwest corner of the castle courtyard, date from the 7th or 8th century. Any remains of other buildings disappeared when the castle was later built. In addition, a 1.5 meter wide trench was preserved, which was later removed and filled with rubble. This rubble meant that the trench filled with it was interpreted as a wall for a long time. A wooden palisade is also conceivable, but no remains of it could be detected.
High Middle Ages
First construction phase in the 11th century
In the course of the 11th century the first stone castle was built, surrounded by a curtain wall following the edge of the hill. Earlier building remains were built over. Nothing is known about the builders. Since Küsnacht then belonged to the Reichsvogtei Küsnacht and was therefore subordinate to the Counts of Lenzburg, it can be assumed that the Wulp was built at their instigation. It was inhabited by ministerials from Lenzburg, who had to look after their interests.
Second construction phase in the 12th century
Presumably due to the increased reputation of the residents and the increased demands that came with it, the castle was extensively rebuilt or rebuilt around 1100. For this purpose, the western courtyard was leveled with marl rubble and the massive square tower was built in the middle as a status symbol. It is unclear whether further buildings were erected.
In the second half of the 12th century, a spacious representative building was erected in the northwest corner, possibly the new residence of the lord of the castle. Finds of stove tiles show that the room could be heated with a stove. A layer of ash suggests that the building fell victim to a fire. It was not rebuilt afterwards. At the same time a forge for the farrier was set up in the western courtyard . Other buildings are conceivable, but not proven.
Third construction phase in the 13th century
After the Zähringers died out around 1218 and the Lenzburgers in 1173, the barons of Regensberg received parts of this imperial bailiwick, including the area on the lower right of Lake Zurich. It can be assumed that the renewed remodeling of Wulp is related to this change of ownership. The residential tower in the center was demolished, its stones were mainly used for the construction of new enclosing walls , which were reinforced in the northeast and south from one to two meters. On the east side, the already mentioned tower with a teardrop-shaped floor plan was built for defense purposes. The access to the inner castle is assumed to be in the newly built wall above the tower stump.
A large building for residential purposes was erected in the south, and another to the north that could have served as a servants' residence.
The end
Abandonment of construction activity
In particular, the reinforcement of the northern curtain wall was not completed; There are also other indications that this most recent construction phase was never completed. One reason for this could have been that the division of the Regensberg family into two lines at that time weakened their strength and, after 1270, demonstrably led to various sales of rights and possessions. Thus, the abandonment of the construction work on the Wulp around 1260 could be explained with financial difficulties of the Regensbergers.
Stormed by the people of Zurich in 1267
According to Hans Gloggner's chronicle from 1432, Wulp Castle is said to have been besieged and destroyed on May 25, 1267 by the people of Zurich under the leadership of Count Rudolf von Habsburg. In this case, a layer of fire would have to cover all older layers of culture and rubble and in turn be covered by layers of rubble and humus that were empty of foundations. Now fire layers were found, but not in that order. A layer of fire in the western courtyard was at the bottom and was covered with a layer from the first half of the 13th century, so it could not have been the layer of fire from 1267. Notes from the excavations in the 1960s recorded that a thin layer of fire was found in the eastern half of the castle, which was covered with a layer of rubble about 60 centimeters thick, and that the inner walls were colored reddish. This youngest part of the plant could have fallen victim to a fire. However, whether this happened on the occasion of the siege of 1267 can no longer be proven. A lack of a fire layer in the western part could be due to the fact that there were no combustible buildings there.
Archaeological finds
All of the crockery and, above all, oven ceramic remains found in the 60 years were all made before the middle of the 13th century. Pottery that became known after the mid-13th century, particularly glazed oven pottery. was not found. It did not appear until after 1280 and would certainly have been used on a system of this size. It can be concluded that Wulp Castle was no longer inhabited after around 1250 and before the appearance of glazed ceramics around 1280.
The Wulp and the Regensberg feud
There is no historical proof of the correctness of Gloggner's story; the processes described are likely to be the result of embellishments and exaggerations. It can be assumed that the people of Zurich merely threatened the Regensbergers with destroying the Wulp if they did not abandon their expansion plans. Political pressure on the one hand and financial difficulties on the other forced the Regensbergers to stop their construction project on the Wulp. It cannot be ruled out that the castle was still destroyed by the people of Zurich for security reasons. Either way: Wulp Castle was abandoned around 1270 and fell into disrepair.
gallery
Residential buildings in the south
Defense tower with baffle on the right
Cistern, looking west
View of the buildings to the west
literature
- Christian Bader: The Wulp castle ruins near Küsnacht ZH . In: Swiss Contributions to the Cultural History and Archeology of the Middle Ages , Vol. 25. Basel 1998.
- Thomas Bitterli: Wulp Castle and its history . Küsnacht improvement association, Gut-Verlag, Stäfa 1993
- Fritz Hauswirth: Castles and Palaces in Switzerland , Volume 4, Neptun Verlag Kreuzlingen
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Heinrich Boxler, Castle naming in north-eastern Switzerland and in Graubünden , Verlag Huber, Frauenfeld 1976
- ↑ Johannes Dierauer (Ed.): Chronicle of the City of Zurich, (Sources on Swiss History, Vol. 18); Basel 1900
Alt-Landenberg | Old warehouses | Alt-Regensberg | Alt-Wädenswil | Alt-Wildberg | Alt-Wülflingen | Baldern | Bernegg | Breitenlandenberg | Bubikon | Book | Dättnau | Dowel block | Eglisau | Elgg | Freienstein | Friedberg | Friesenberg | Gamser | Glanzenberg | Greifenberg | Greifensee | Grüningen | Hegi | Hohenlandenberg | Hoh-Wülflingen | Knonau | Kyburg | Langenberg | Running | Liebenberg | Manegg | Maur | Moosburg | Mörsburg | Upper Baliken | Regensberg | Rossberg | Schauenberg | Schnabelburg | Schönenwerd | Sellenbüren | Sünikon | Teufen | Tössegg | Üetliburg | Uster | Wädenswil | Wait | Wetzikon | Wiesendangen | Winturm | Wülflingen | Wulp | Wyden