Strahlegg Castle (Fideris)

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Strahlegg Castle
Strahlegg ruins

Strahlegg ruins

Alternative name (s): Stralegg
Creation time : 13th Century
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Fideris
Geographical location 46 ° 54 '58.5 "  N , 9 ° 45' 19"  O Coordinates: 46 ° 54 '58.5 "  N , 9 ° 45' 19"  E ; CH1903:  seven hundred and seventy-six thousand four hundred and forty-five  /  one hundred and ninety-eight thousand seven hundred and thirty-two
Height: 870  m above sea level M.
Strahlegg Castle (Canton of Graubünden)
Strahlegg Castle

The ruins of Strahlegg Castle (also Stralegg) are located on the old Prättigauer Weg in the hamlet of Strahlegg in the municipality of Fideris in the Swiss canton of Graubünden . The district of Strahlegg lies east of Fideris and is separated from it by the Arieschtobel. The ruin stands at 870  m above sea level. M. on a small hill at the end of a terrace. The castle grounds are connected to the garden of the adjoining private house.

investment

Emergency excavations were carried out in 1965 when a private house was built to the south of the castle. As a result, the historical examination of the facility could only be carried out incompletely. The tower, probably a donjon , belongs to the older part , and the adjoining curtain walls , residential wing and the extension of the tower are more recent. The age of the outer bailey is unclear.

The complex was originally divided into a fore and a main castle . Only the main castle remains in ruins; Only minor traces of the wall remain from the outer bailey. On the tower with a square floor plan there are remains of plastering and corner bosses are clearly visible. The circular wall reached up to the first floor of the tower. A high entrance is missing. On the 2nd floor there are narrow notches with tuff walls , above which a wooden upper balcony can be assumed. To the north of the tower at the corner of the curtain wall was a rectangular residential wing. A butt joint shows that it is younger than the wall.

history

Strahlegg and Castels (in the background), before 1799
1892 view from the northeast. Representation by JR Rahn

There are no documents about the construction of the castle. The excavations of 1965 unearthed various small finds from the period between the 13th and 15th centuries. In the 14th century the castle belonged to the Straiff family , according to Castelmur the family was enfeoffed with it by the barons of Vaz . After Ursula von Straiff's death, it was awarded to Count Friedrich von Toggenburg by the court in Fideris in 1403 after it had been illegally taken over by locals. It is not said whether the Toggenburger ever claimed the castle. In 1474 another Gut Strahlegg is mentioned, after which the news is missing. Ulrich Campbell found the castle in Strahlegg as a ruin around 1550.

Securing work

Since the ruin was apparently never used as a quarry, much of the original structure has been preserved. Extensive securing work has been carried out in seven stages since 2006. The crowns of the wall that had grown through roots were removed and replaced using the water-repellent quarry stone technique. The walls were reinforced with mortar using the Rasa Pietra technique . A dry mortar was used that was produced according to a tried and tested recipe from the Graubünden Castle Association and was also used in the restoration of La Tur in Zillis. The beam and window openings were also carefully secured. In the summer of 2013, the Graubünden Castle Association under the direction of Walter Schläpfer was able to complete the overall security. A subsequent project change in the form of a roofing of the tower not only optimally protects the historic masonry, but also allows limited use as an exhibition room for wood carvings by the lord of the castle, Marco Walli.

literature

  • Otto P. Clavadetscher, Werner Meyer : The castle book of Graubünden . Zurich 1984, ISBN 3-280-01319-4
  • Castle map of Switzerland , Federal Office of Topography, 2007 edition
  • Anton von Castelmur: " The castles and palaces of the Canton of Graubünden" , Volume I, Birkhäuser-Verlag, Basel 1940
  • Fritz Hauswirth: Castles and palaces in Switzerland. Volume 8 . Neptun Publishing House. Kreuzlingen, 1972

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Eugen Grimm: Streif. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . June 29, 2012 , Retrieved June 6, 2019 .