Rotberg Castle
| Rotberg Castle | ||
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 Rotberg Castle |
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| Creation time : | 2nd third of the 13th century | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | Received or received substantial parts | |
| Place: | Metzerlen-Mariastein | |
| Geographical location | 47 ° 27 '53 " N , 7 ° 29' 5" E | |
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The Rotberg Castle is a medieval knight's castle in the municipality of Metzerlen-Mariastein , southwest of Basel , in the canton of Solothurn . It probably originated in the 2nd third of the 13th century . It has been used as a youth hostel since it was expanded in 1935.
location
The hilltop castle sits enthroned on a castle hill made of Jura limestone on the northern slope of the Blauen in the Birsigtal .
history
The castle was first mentioned in a document as Rotberg Castle in 1413 and was inhabited by the lords and knights of Rotberg . But the Rotberger, who had reached office and dignity, soon moved to the nearby city of Basel, and the castle became less and less important. In 1555 the city of Solothurn acquired the castle and in 1636 transferred it as a fief to the Mariastein monastery .
The castle had been abandoned and uninhabitable since 1645. It was falling apart and was often used as a quarry.
investment
You enter the courtyard through a gate. This inner courtyard is located between two buildings connected by a circular wall and an open battlement . On the right rises the former knight's house with its round tower behind it, on the left there is a small half-timbered frame building as a former servants' quarters .
Todays use
When the rebuilding of the castle began in autumn 1933, it was nothing but a meager and dilapidated ruin. Thanks to generous donations, the financial means were available to rebuild it in 1934 and 1935 on the basis of plans by the castle builder Eugen Probst through a voluntary labor service of unemployed young people.
On November 27, 1935, the castle was handed over to the Swiss youth as a youth castle and youth hostel.
The castle researcher Werner Meyer criticizes the resulting fantasy product of the "castle architect" from 1934/35 and states: "The uncovering work carried out without scientific supervision and the pseudo-historical restoration devastated the archaeological findings and blurred the original wall."
literature
- Werner Meyer: Castles from A to Z - Burgenlexikon der Regio . Published by the Castle Friends of both Basels on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. Klingental printing works, Basel 1981, pp. 220–221.
- Eugen Schneiter: Neu-Rotberg: the first Swiss youth castle . In: News of the Swiss Association for the Preservation of Castles and Ruins (Burgenverein), Volume (Year): 9 (1936), Issue 1, doi : 10.5169 / seals-156613
- The Rotberg ruins: and future youth castle . In: News of the Swiss Association for the Preservation of Castles and Ruins (Burgenverein), Volume (Year): 7 (1934), Issue 6, pp. 71–74, doi : 10.5169 / seals-155964
- CR: Rotberg castle ruins . In: News of the Swiss Association for the Preservation of Castles and Ruins (Burgenverein), Volume (Year): 3 (1930), Issue 1, pp. 1–2, doi : 10.5169 / seals-154556
- Johann Rudolf Rahn: The Medieval Art Monuments of the Canton Solothurn , Zurich 1893; Pp. 120–122 online at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Web links
- Ruedi Graf: Rotberg. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Youth hostel Burg Rotberg
Individual evidence
- ↑ Werner Meyer: Burgen A to Z . Castle lexicon of the region. Ed .: Friends of both Basel castles. Klingental printing works, Basel 1981, p. 220 .