Rappenstein Castle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rappenstein
Rappenstein ruins

Rappenstein ruins

Creation time : around 1250
Castle type : Höhenburg, cave castle
Conservation status: Ruin, rubble
Standing position : Unknown assignment
Construction: Quarry stone
Place: Untervaz
Geographical location 46 ° 55 '30 "  N , 9 ° 31' 20"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 55 '30 "  N , 9 ° 31' 20"  E ; CH1903:  758,674  /  199207
Height: 786  m above sea level M.
Rappenstein Castle (Canton of Graubünden)
Rappenstein Castle

The castle Rappenstein is the ruin of a high medieval rock castle in hard to reach Cosenztobel west of Untervaz in the Swiss canton of Grisons . Along with Kropfenstein Castle in Surselva, Rappenstein is one of the best preserved cave castles in Switzerland.

location

The ruin is at 1058  m above sea level. M. in a crevice about ten meters above the stream and is easily accessible via a steep path. Access to the interior is possible through a narrow hatch at the foot of the wall.

To this day it is unknown why Rappenstein was built in such a dark, cold and damp place that a ray of sunshine never reaches. The assumption is however that Rappenstein only served as an occasional retreat and was not a permanent place of residence. The fact that the wall of the side wing was reinforced by a new casing in a second construction phase nevertheless indicates a longer-term use.

history

You don't know who built Rappenstein; there are no documents in which Rappenstein is mentioned. Structural features and a dendrochronological examination of the beams suggest that it was built in the middle of the 13th century.

It is also unclear how the castle got its name. It could go back to the noble Mötteli merchant family, who named themselves after the Rappenstein Castle in Martinstobel near St. Gallen and who came into possession of the castle in Tobel near Untervaz around 1450. The name Rappenstein is likely to have been carried over from the Mötteli family to the castle.

The Möttelis were related to the Knights Thumb von Neuburg from Vorarlberg , who owned the Neuburg near Koblach . Since Rappenstein is older than Neuburg, which was only built around 1300, Rappenstein could have been the first seat of the Thumb family in Untervaz.

It is not known whether the first owners of the reign of Neuburg lived in Rappenstein or in another, unknown castle. What is known, however, is that Rappenstein had long been in ruins in the 15th century when Neuburg belonged to the Mötteli. When Rudolf Mötteli sold the Neuburg and a vineyard to the Bishop of Chur in 1496, he did mention the hoefli Castrines on the other side of the Cosenzbach, but the castle itself is not mentioned. As a ruin, it no longer had any value and therefore did not have to be listed in the sales deed.

Rappenstein was abandoned by the 15th century at the latest. The wooden beams, sawn off on both sides of the wall, suggest systematic recycling of usable material and orderly clearing.

investment

Rappenstein's plan

On the upper floor of the two-story main building was the arched high entrance , which was accessed via wooden arbors from an auxiliary building that leaned against the rock to the northeast of the main building. Its appearance can no longer be clearly reconstructed. The 1.4 meter thick front wall made of rubble stone is plastered outside and inside in Pietra Rasa with horizontal trowel joints.

Individual remains of beams have been preserved from the wooden roof structure. The water supply came from two small springs in the back of the fifteen meter deep cave. The design of the interior space can no longer be seen, since it is filled with rubble that has fallen from the ceiling.

The remains of the wall reveal two construction phases, which in view of the damp and cold location of the castle suggests that it will not have been used for a long time.

literature

  • Werner Meyer , Eduard Widmer: The great castle book of Switzerland . 5th edition. Ex Libris Verlag, Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-7632-3219-2 , pp. 46–47.
  • Otto P. Clavadetscher, Werner Meyer: The castle book of Graubünden . Zurich / Schwäbisch Hall 1984.
  • Werner Meyer (Red.): Castles of Switzerland. Volume 3 . Zurich 1983.
  • Fritz Hauswirth: Castles and Palaces of Switzerland. Volume 8: Graubünden . Kreuzlingen 1972.

Web links

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