Starkenstein Castle

Starkenstein Castle
Approximate location of the castle above the gravel pit
Creation time :	First mentioned in 1329
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	departed
Place:	Starkenbach
Geographical location	47 ° 11 '19.8 "  N , 9 ° 14' 11.7"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 11 '19.8 "  N , 9 ° 14' 11.7"  E ; CH1903:  736252  /  227993

The castle Starkstein was a hilltop castle between Stein and Starkenbach in the canton of St. Gallen . The castle was called "stone" by the people. The name was later transferred to a courtyard below and then to the neighboring village of Stein.

location

The castle was on the south bank of the Thur at the narrowing of the Rotenstein in the northeast and the Mittagberg in the southwest.

history

Approximate location of the castle. In the background the gravel pit.

Starkenstein was built in the 13th century (first mentioned in 1329) by the Counts of Montfort ( Starkenstein = Montfort ). It was owned by the Counts of Werdenberg in 1390 and pledged to Duke Friedrich of Austria in 1395 . This was followed by several changes of pledge, including in 1414 to the Counts of Toggenburg and in 1436 to the St. Johann monastery . In 1468 it was called the Burgstall . There were excavation work in 1938/39 and archaeological explorations in 1950 and rescue excavations in 1954/55.

The castle was destroyed by gravel mining after 1955. Nothing has survived from the keep with an edge length of 7.8 m and walls 2.3 m thick.

Web links

• Hans Büchler: Stein (SG). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Burg Starkenstein , entry in the Geographical Lexicon of Switzerland, 1902.