Tschanüff Castle

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Tschanüff ruins
Tschanüff ruins

Tschanüff ruins

Alternative name (s): Remus
Creation time : 12th Century
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Ministeriale
Place: Ramosch
Geographical location 46 ° 49 '58.5 "  N , 10 ° 22' 32.2"  O Coordinates: 46 ° 49 '58.5 "  N , 10 ° 22' 32.2"  E ; CH1903:  824 020  /  191057
Height: 1240  m above sea level M.
Tschanüff Castle (Canton of Graubünden)
Tschanüff Castle

The Tschanüff Castle is the ruin of a Spur castle at 1,240  m above sea level. M. on a terrain spur on the edge of the Val-Sinestra - ravine west of the village Ramosch in the Lower Engadine in the Swiss canton of Graubünden . Tschanüff was next to the Tarasp Castle the most important castle complex in the Lower Engadine.

The name Tschanüff is derived from the Rhaeto-Romanic Chà nouva (Latin Casa Nova ) and means "new house". The name did not appear until the 16th century , before the castle was simply called Ramosch or Remüs .

investment

The system consists of a main castle of tower, living quarters and annexes, surrounded by a Bering and a south upstream Vorburg , which is surrounded by a wall in different thickness. The two parts were connected by a gate through which an arched corridor led into the courtyard of the main castle. Numerous wall joints and differences in the wall structure indicate that the construction must have been carried out in several stages. The oldest part apparently includes a wall fragment of a curtain wall in the southeast of the complex, which was probably built before 1200. The main tower in the north, the inner shield wall and parts of the southern residential wing in the outer bailey probably date from the first half of the 13th century . The dungeon still has five floors. The high entrance was at the level of the fourth floor in the south wall. Since the masonry of the tower is not connected to the surrounding walls, these must be more recent.

The building south of the tower could be reached via the high entrance. Bar holes at a height of four floors and the remains of an unusually thick (shield?) Wall to the south have been preserved. To the west is the southern wing from the 15th century, a four-story, transversely divided building. The barrel vaults on the lower floors have partially collapsed. On the third floor there was a continuous hall with a beamed ceiling, above that was the attic room with lock hatches. The individual rooms were accessible from the courtyard side.

To the north of this wing was a more recent building, of which only a few remains of the wall have survived. The south wing was closed by an older shield wall with a thickness of three meters, which was probably reinforced to double its thickness in the age of firearms. Together, the two walls now form a massive tower-shaped block without interior spaces, which was probably closed with a weir plate .

To the west of the main tower was a two-story building from around 1500, Poeschel suspected a kitchen or forge, and living rooms on the upper floor. Remains of a sgraffito decoration have been preserved in the external plaster . Window openings in the surrounding wall to the west indicate an original continuation towards the west; however, these parts of the building have slipped.

  • Wall joint between the two protective walls

  • South side of the tower with high entrance

  • Sgraffiti remains

  • Postcard from 1902

history

The Lords of Ramosch are documented as servants of the Bishop of Chur and the Lords of Tarasp as early as the 12th century . In 1256 Count Meinrad I of Gorizia and Tyrol allowed the knight Nannes von Ramosch to build a castle. However, since the oldest parts of Tschanüff go back to the 12th century, an expansion of the existing complex can be assumed.

After the middle of the 14th century there was a dispute between the Schwiker and Konrad von Ramosch brothers. The dispute was settled in 1365 by Duke Leopold of Austria , who received the right of access. 1367 Schwiker stabbed his brother to death, whereupon Leopold Schiker's property had lapsed and Ulrich von Matsch enfeoffed castle and rule. To von Matsch, because the murdered Konrad was married to Margarete von Matsch. In 1369 von Matsch was also able to acquire rights from the son of the murdered Conrad. In 1372 Margarete also waived all claims.

The Austrian advance into the Lower Engadine thwarted the Chur bishop's plans. In 1394, Bishop Hartmann seized the castle and forced the von Matsch to relinquish their rights to the Ramosch fortress in return for compensation. The Lords of Matsch resisted, in 1395 they attacked the castle and looted it. Although Austria renewed Ulrich von Matsch's fief with Ramosch in 1403, the castle remained in the hands of the bishop. In 1415 a compromise emerged, but it was not until 1421 that an arbitration tribunal in Bolzano confirmed the episcopal rights to Ramosch. Austria retained the opening rights, the Lords of Matsch from the diocese received further compensation. Most of the time those of Planta served as episcopal bailiffs.

In 1468 people in the church occupied the castle in connection with a dispute with the bishop, but did not cause any major damage. In 1475, during the so-called hen war , when the Engadiners refused to give the Austrians over the carnival chickens, Tschanüff was set on fire by the Austrians. During the Swabian War of 1499, the episcopal pledgee set the castle on fire on March 25th, so as not to have to leave it to the imperial troops. After the restoration it was again the episcopal administrative center of the Ramosch rule, which encompassed the entire lower part of the Lower Engadine.

In 1565 the castle was looted and set on fire by sixteen young locals during a popular uprising. A court forced the conspirators to finance the reconstruction and help with the construction work. In the confusion of Graubünden , Ramosch Castle was set on fire again on August 2, 1622 by troops from Glarus. It was poorly restored and continued to be used as the episcopal administrative seat. Nicolin Sererhard found the castle still intact in 1760, but on the inside in disrepair and described it as not well built . The castle was abandoned in 1780 due to increasing disintegration and landslides of western components.

conservation

The Pro Tschanüff association has set itself the goal of saving the ruins from further decay. Securing work has been in progress for several years (as of summer 2009). The castle is owned by Fundaziun Tschanüff.

Saga world

The legend of the last Lords of Tschanüff is about the decline of Tschanüff Castle and at the same time provides an explanation for the earlier periodic drying up of the Funtana Chistagna spring, which is a good 4 km away .

gallery

  • View with Piz Spadla

  • Rest of the south wing

  • Shield wall from the inside

  • View into the living area

  • Walling on the south side

  • View of the south wing

literature

  • Thomas Bitterli: Swiss Castle Guide. Friedrich Reinhard Verlag, Basel / Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-7245-0865-4 .
  • Otto P. Clavadetscher, Werner Meyer : The castle book of Graubünden . Zurich 1984, ISBN 3-280-01319-4 .
  • Werner Meyer: Castles of Switzerland . Volume 3. Silva Verlag, Zurich 1983.
  • Castle map of Switzerland, Federal Office of Topography, 2007 edition
  • Willy Zeller: Art and culture in Graubünden. Haupt Verlag, Bern 1993, ISBN 3-258-04759-6 .
  • Fritz Hauswirth: Castles and palaces in Switzerland . Volume 8. Neptun Verlag, Kreuzlingen 1972.
  • Erwin Poeschel: Art monuments of the canton of Graubünden . Volume 3. Birkhäuser, Basel 1945.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fritz Hauswirth: Castles and palaces in Switzerland . Volume 8
  2. ↑ Information board on site
  3. ↑ Otto P. Clavadetscher, Werner Meyer: The Burgenbuch von Graubünden . Zurich 1984