Schenkenberg Castle Ruins (Aargau)

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Schenkenberg castle ruins
Schenkenberg ruins

Schenkenberg ruins

Creation time : 1243
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Ministeriale
Place: Thalheim
Geographical location 47 ° 26 '31.2 "  N , 8 ° 6' 2.7"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 26 '31.2 "  N , 8 ° 6' 2.7"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred and forty-nine thousand nine hundred and forty-three  /  254788
Height: 631  m above sea level M.
Schenkenberg Castle Ruins (Canton Aargau)
Schenkenberg castle ruins

Schenkenberg is the ruin of a hilltop castle above Thalheim in the Swiss canton of Aargau . It was in the 13th century on behalf of the Hapsburgs built during 260 years administrative center was the bailiwick Schenkenberg the city of Bern and fell in the 18th century into ruin.

location

The castle is located on the 631 meter high mountain of the same name in the Folded Jura , around 200 meters above the five kilometer long Schenkenbergertal .

history

Schenkenberg ruins above Thalheim

The castle was probably built at the beginning of the 13th century on behalf of the Habsburgs , who wanted to secure their core areas around their ancestral seat and the city of Brugg . The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1243, when a H. de Schenkenberc was mentioned together with Count Rudolf and Hartmann von Habsburg. Back then, the lords of the castle were the Schenkenberg taverns, employers of the Habsburgs. In 1282 Albrecht von Löwenstein-Schenkenberg , the eldest son of Rudolf I von Habsburg , was master of the castle (-> coat of arms by Meinrad Keller ). Ownership of the castle subsequently changed between several employers of the Habsburgs (note: Meinrad Keller's coat of arms shows Albrecht von Löwenstein-Schenkenberg as the first owner of the castle; coat of arms: an eagle rising above a mountain of three mountains).

After the lost battle at Sempach , the Habsburgs ran into financial difficulties and had to pledge the castle. In 1415, the Habsburgs fell out of favor with King Sigismund , whereupon the Swiss conquered Aargau. The area to the left of the Aare , including the Schenkenbergertal, remained untouched for the time being. In 1417 King Sigismund placed the castle under his direct protection. The castle owner at the time, Margaretha von Fridingen, sold the castle and the associated rights to Freiherr Thuringia von Aarburg in 1431 .

The rule of Schenkenberg extended over a large part of what is now the Brugg district . In 1451 Thuringia got into financial problems and sold the rule to his son-in-law Hans von Baldegg and his brother Markwart. The Baldeggers, who fought on the side of the Habsburgs in 1386, demonstratively allied themselves with Austria and thus drew the anger of the Confederates. There were more and more disputes with the citizens of the city of Brugg, who were Bernese subjects. In 1460 Bern finally had enough of the constant provocations, occupied the rule and drove the Baldeggers away. The castle, damaged in the fighting, was repaired immediately. The Schenkenberg rule became a bailiff in the Bernese Aargau and the castle became the seat of the bailiff. The Baldeggers tried several times to regain their property through diplomatic and legal means, for example in the Swabian War of 1499, but always unsuccessfully. Hans von Baldegg, the last of his line, died of the plague around 1510 .

Schenkenberg Castle was in the north-eastern corner of the Bernese domain, not far from the border with Upper Austria . Due to this strategically important location, Bern strongly fortified the castle, but saved on maintenance. In the early 18th century the castle had become so dilapidated that the governor and his family feared for their lives because parts of the wall regularly crumbled. Finally, the city council of Bern decided to give up the castle and in 1720 the bailiff moved to the nearby Wildenstein Castle near Veltheim .

The castle fell into disrepair and was used as a quarry by farmers in the area for a while. In 1798 it came into the possession of the newly created Canton of Aargau, the legal successor to the City of Bern. In 1837 the castle was bought by a dubious "Herr von Schenkenberg" who, however, disappeared shortly afterwards without a trace. The castle remained practically ownerless for several decades. When a storm collapsed the east wall in 1917, things got moving. Since it was subsequently declared as an ownerless property, it was auctioned off in May 1918. It was auctioned for the symbolic amount of 50 francs to the Aargau Association for Homeland Security, which subsequently carried out extensive security and conservation work several times. Today the ruin is under monument protection and is classified as a monument of national importance.

investment

The system was built in several stages. This knowledge was mainly reached during the renovation in 2003, during which an archaeological construction study was carried out. However, no excavations were made. For this reason, the annual figures are estimates. Many times are vague because they cannot be confirmed. Also, only the sequence of individual construction stages on a building can be clearly determined, but usually not the chronological order of the various buildings to one another. It is assumed that first the main tower (probably a keep ), then the core castle and finally the lower castle was built.

The main tower is at the highest point. It is surrounded by the so-called core castle, the tower forms its northeast corner. To the west of the main castle are the lower castle with the utility buildings and the gate system. To the southwest of the lower castle and south of the core castle is the castle garden with the Geis tower in its southeast corner; this forms the lowest point of the castle. The western end of the castle is the powder tower .

To the west of the main tower is the shield wall with a (half) round tower at the end. At the south side of the curtain wall was Palas grown, this was not enough to round tower, but in between even a stair tower was built onto the shield wall. A weir protected the east side of the hall. The lower castle was connected to the core castle via a staircase that led up south of the western ridge. To the east of the main tower, separated by a ditch , there is a fore .

The main tower is the oldest part of the castle, as all adjoining parts of the building were built later. The tower was raised twice and also modified twice in the upper end by adding a battlement and later an artillery platform. Individual bars from the second elevation could be dated between 1226 and 1233 when they were felled. However, this cannot be used to date the elevation, as old beams could have been used. However, this confirms the first written record from 1243. If fresh beams were used here, which cannot be confirmed due to the lack of excavation results, the construction would have to have taken place in the 12th century.

The Geissurm was only built around 1500 and subsequently increased once. When the eastern perimeter wall was raised in 1622/23, he received a high entrance on the top floor of the battlements of this wall.

literature

  • Georg Boner: The castle ruins Schenkenberg: From the history of the castle . In: Brugger Neujahrsblätter 89 (1979)
  • G. Grossen: Report on the securing of the Schenkenberg ruins by the Aargau homeland security in autumn 1931 . In: Argovia: Annual Journal of the Historical Society of the Canton of Aargau , Volume 45 (1933)
  • Johann Rudolf von Luternau : Necessary and unpredictable report on the prevailing question, whether it would be more useful and useful for the high class to rebuild the dilapidated castle on Schenckenberg. Or to pull the Wildenstein [...] castle to yourself? , [1720].
  • Walter Merz: The medieval fortifications and fortifications of the canton of Aargau , Volume 2. Aarau, 1906
  • Walther Merz: Schenkenberg ruins in Aargau. In: Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde , Vol. 3, 1904, pp. 242–283. ( Digitized version )
  • Christoph Reding: The Schenkenberg castle ruins near Thalheim . In: Argovia 2005: Annual of the Historical Society of the Canton of Aargau , Volume 117. Baden, 2005. ISBN 3-03919-013-X
  • Christoph Reding: The Schenkenberg castle ruins near Thalheim . In: Middle Ages: Journal of the Swiss Castle Association 4/9 (2004), ( PDF )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Report on the condition of Schenkenberg Castle / Acquisition of Wildenstein Castle and Lordship, 1720, in the Burgerbibliothek Bern, shelf mark: Mb 85, in the online catalog
  2. ↑ Aargau Association for Homeland Security: Agreement with the State of Aargau regarding the preservation of the Schenkenberg ruins near Thalheim , from Jan. 27, 1919, Aargau State Archives , call number: R05.33.2.34, in the online catalog