Bernegg Castle

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Bernegg
Bernegg above the road to Arosa

Bernegg above the road to Arosa

Creation time : around 1260
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Ministeriale
Construction: Rubble stones
Place: Calfreisen
Geographical location 46 ° 50 '29 "  N , 9 ° 35' 47.3"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 50 '29 "  N , 9 ° 35' 47.3"  E ; CH1903:  764 582  /  190068
Height: 1245  m
Bernegg Castle (Canton of Graubünden)
Bernegg Castle

The castle Bernegg is the ruins of a medieval hilltop castle in Calfreisen in the municipality of Arosa in Schanfigg in the Swiss canton of Grisons .

location

The well-preserved ruins of the fortified palace are located at 1245  m on a ledge on the south-eastern edge of the village, separated from the slope by a ditch . The inside of the tower is not accessible.

investment

The tower made of quarry stone masonry from the warehouse forms a rectangle of around 11 by 13 meters. The wall thickness is 2 to 2.4 meters, and 1.8 meters on the upper floors. The corner stones, some of which are over a meter long and without bosses, are striking . The original tower height of 15 meters has been preserved on the south side.

The division into four floors can be seen from the remains of the plastering on the wall. The ground floor is partially filled with rubble and was probably used as a cellar. There are isolated narrow notches on the second floor. In the south wall of the third floor, the high entrance was at a height of 9.5 meters. The trimmed stones of the probably arched doorway are missing.

Next to a narrow notch in the west wall is a high smoke vent, presumably for a stove. The sloping course of today's wall crown from south to north is probably the result of natural decay. The original roof shape can no longer be determined; a parapet walk around the wall is conceivable.

There are no traces of a ring or ancillary structures. If there were ancillary buildings, they were probably on the site of the neighboring farmhouses.

history

Based on structural details, it can be concluded that it was built in the middle or second half of the 13th century. It is uncertain whether Otto von Calfreisen, who is documented in 1231 - but in the very unclear spelling Ottho de Rauaraiscene - lived in this castle or on a previous building. The fact that the castle was the seat of the Lords of Calfreisen remains undisputed; they are attested from 1259 to 1286. A document from 1312 names the deceased R. quondam dictus de Kafrais . The family belonged to the Schanfigg village nobility and served the barons of Vaz and the diocese of Chur .

Successors to the von Calfreisen family were the noble Schanfigg family of the Underwegers, probably through the marriage of Margareth von Calfreisen, the last of their line. In 1386 Hans von Underwegen is mentioned ( ... uf myner vesti Cauarayssen ...) , in 1428 Hans von Vnderwegen, the oldest from Cauarayssen, sells the Alp Stätz near above Lenzerheide to the monastery of Churwalden.

In the 15th century, Calfreisen Castle is said to have come into the possession of the speakers who first gave it the name "Bernegg". Bernegg was previously unoccupied, but has been the nickname of the speaker since then. It is uncertain whether the castle was still inhabited in the 15th century. According to Ulrich Campell, it was already in ruins by 1550 .

  • North side

  • View from the northwest

  • Southwest side

  • South side

literature

  • Otto P. Clavedetscher, Werner Meyer : The castle book of Graubünden . Zurich / Schwäbisch Hall 1984
  • Fritz Hauswirth: Castles and Palaces of Switzerland. Volume 8: Graubünden . Kreuzlingen 1972

Web links

Commons : Burg Bernegg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files