Iberg Castle

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Iberg Castle
Iberg ruins from the northeast

Iberg ruins from the northeast

Alternative name (s): Yberg, Yburg, Iburg
Creation time : 1240
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: Castle
Construction: uncut megalithic masonry
Place: Wattwil
Geographical location 47 ° 17 '51 "  N , 9 ° 4' 48"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 17 '51 "  N , 9 ° 4' 48"  E ; CH1903:  seven hundred twenty-four thousand one hundred and thirty-six  /  two hundred thirty-nine thousand eight hundred eleven
Height: 733.5  m above sea level M.
Iberg Castle (Canton of St. Gallen)
Iberg Castle
Coat of arms of the builder

The ruins of Iberg Castle , also known as Yberg or Yburg , are located in the municipality of Wattwil in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen . It was built after 1230 by the Lords of Iberg, ministerials of the Prince Abbey of St. Gallen , and was in ruins from 1838 to 1901. In the years 1901–1902 it was rebuilt with the help of the federal government and received the status of a castle .

location

The ruins of the hilltop castle are located on a hill southwest of Wattwil at 740 m. ü. M. with a view over the Thur Valley between Lichtensteig and Ebnat-Kappel as well as access to the Rickenpass and the Laad.

history

Iberg was built as a castle after 1240, probably by Heinrich von Iberg, a servant of the Prince Abbey of St. Gallen. It probably served as an administrative center for the goods and rights of the monastery around Wattwil. The name was probably derived from a field name ("Eibenberg") and was adopted by the local servants after the castle was built, who first named themselves "de Iberch" in 1240. Through fiefs and clearing, together with property and rights, they built up the Iberg lordship with the villages of Wattwil and Kappel. However, this went on in 1471 at the latest in the Toggenburg rulers of the monastery.

In 1249, Count Kraft I. von Toggenburg captured Castle Iberg as part of the armed conflict with the Prince Abbey of St. Gallen as a result of the Toggenburg fratricide in 1226. Allegedly, he is said to have renamed the castle "Kraftsberg", but in 1255 had to return it to the monastery for good. In 1290 Iberg was besieged and conquered by Konrad von Gundelfingen , the counter-abbot of St. Gallen supported by King Rudolf von Habsburg , but fell back to St. Gallen abbot Wilhelm von Montfort in 1292 after the agreement with Konrad von Gundelfingen . During the Appenzell Wars , Iberg Castle was conquered and destroyed by the Appenzell people in 1405.

Prince Abbot Kuno von Stoffeln had Iberg rebuilt as a bailiff's seat after 1408. Since the county of Toggenburg belonged to the prince abbey of St. Gallen in 1468, the St. Gallen bailiff of Toggenburg temporarily resided on Iberg. During the Thirty Years' War the church treasures of the monastery were stored in its cellars. In 1710 the rebellious Toggenburgers occupied Iberg, but after the Toggenburg War in 1718 in the Peace of Baden it had to be returned to the abbey. However, the castle was loosened. The prince abbey left the buildings on it to feudal people, who set up an inn in it. The system then visibly disintegrated.

After the abbey was abolished, Iberg came into private ownership in 1805 and was inhabited until 1835, when the manufacturer Jakob Schwander, out of annoyance that the community of Wattwil rejected his proposal to set up a poor house on Iberg, had all the roof trusses demolished until 1835 and the bricks and masonry continued. This greatly accelerated the decay process. After the transfer to the municipality of Wattwil in 1883, the latter restored the roof of the keep from 1901–1902 , secured the walls and reconstructed parts of the complex as an excursion destination, such as the upper floors of the keep, part of the ring wall and the castle gate. In 2011 the system was last extensively renewed.

investment

The castle hill was protected on three sides by a ring moat and embankments, on the south side it drops steeply to the Hagbachtobel. Surrounded by an annular wall castle forms an irregular polygon, and includes a 9 x 8.7 x 25 m wide keep five levels and previously also a Palas and farm buildings. The walls of the keep are 1.8 to 2.2 m thick. The old high entrance is on the southeast side, approx. 5 m above the courtyard. The keep, equipped with a reconstructed staircase, is now entered at ground level.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Adolf Gasser : The territorial development of the Swiss Confederation 1291–1797. Aarau undated, p. 92.