Hohenbalken Castle

Hohenbalken Castle
Location of Hohenbalken Castle
Alternative name (s):	Travaulta
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	Wall remnants, rubble
Place:	Sumvitg
Geographical location	46 ° 43 '15 "  N , 8 ° 53' 52"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 43 '15 "  N , 8 ° 53' 52"  E ; CH1903:  711 548  /  one hundred and seventy-five thousand four hundred and forty
Height:	1013  m above sea level M.

The ruins of Hohenbalken Castle ( Graubünden Romanesque : Tuor Travaulta ) are located in the municipality of Sumvitg in the Swiss canton of Graubünden .

location

The sparse wall remains of the former hilltop castle are 1013  m above sea level. M. west of Sumvitg at the eastern end of the Russeinerbrücke a little below the railroad track on a rock head that rises on the left above the Russeinerbach at the confluence with the Vorderrhein .

Surname

The name Hohenbalken appears twice in the canton of Graubünden. The first mention of the name comes from the castle Balcun At in the Münstertal from the year 1427: "... I Janutt Carl de Balkun ault or called from Hohenbalken ze tütsch ..." Obviously the name comes from a high (lat. Altus ) balcony or one Gallery. Later the name Balkun ault was translated into Hohenbalken ; the balcony became a beam. Whether a name was transferred from the Münstertal to the castle in Surselva is conceivable, but not clear.

investment

The traces of some of the wall sections no longer reveal the structural connection. At the highest point a corner of the wall has been preserved, probably the remains of a tower. To the east and west, there are barely noticeable remains of a curtain wall . Remnants of the access road can still be seen.

history

There are no written documents about the origins and history of the castle. In contrast, Carl Gregor von Hohenbalken († 1577) is documented. The son of a mayor of Chur was governor of Veltlin , 1542–1544 mercenary captain in French service and 1545 mayor of Chur. In 1548 he acquired Neu-Aspermont Castle . 1557–1559 he was bailiff of Maienfeld , in 1567 he acquired Haldenstein Castle and the Haldenstein rule. It is not clear whether and how it was related to Hohenbalken Castle. Relationships with the Hohenbalken von Müstair and the castle of Balcun At cannot be proven.

photos

East wall

Foundation of the tower

Access route

literature

• Otto P. Clavadetscher, Werner Meyer : The castle book of Graubünden . Zurich 1984, ISBN 3-280-01319-4
• Anton von Castelmur: "The castles and palaces of the Canton of Graubünden", Volume II, Birkhäuser-Verlag, Basel 1940
• Heinrich Boxler, naming castles in north-eastern Switzerland and in Graubünden , Huber Verlag, Frauenfeld 1976
• Castle map of Switzerland, 2007 edition, Federal Office of Topography / Swiss Castle Association

Web links

Commons : Hohenbalken Castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Castle world: Hohenbalken Castle (Tuor Travaulta)
• Martin Bundi: Carl (von Hohenbalken). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Heinrich Boxler: The naming of castles in north-eastern Switzerland and in Graubünden ; P. 100