Ruin Balcun At

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Balcun At
Location of the castle above the apple tree

Location of the castle above the apple tree

Alternative name (s): Balcunaut, Balcun Ault, Hohenbalken, Chastè marsch (rotten castle)
Creation time : 12th or 13th century
Castle type : Höhenburg, spur location
Conservation status: Burgstall, remains of the wall
Construction: Rubble stones
Place: Mustair
Geographical location 46 ° 37 '32 "  N , 10 ° 27' 37"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 37 '32 "  N , 10 ° 27' 37"  E ; CH1903:  831362  /  168268
Height: 1480  m
Ruin Balcun At (Canton of Graubünden)
Ruin Balcun At

The ruins of the former castle of Balcun At is an abandoned spur castle in the area of ​​the municipality of Müstair in the lower Münstertal in the Swiss canton of Graubünden . The sparse remains of the wall lie 230 meters above the valley floor in the east of the village on the spur of a steep ridge on the southern edge of Val Brüna .

Surname

Coat of arms on the «Balcun At» restaurant in Müstair

The name Hohenbalken appears twice in the canton of Graubünden. The name was first mentioned in 1427: … I was Janutt Carl de Balkun ault or von Hohenbalken ze tütsch… Obviously, the name comes from a balcony or gallery situated high up (lat. Altus ). Later the name Balkun ault was translated into Hohenbalken ; the balcony became a beam. Whether the name was transferred from the Münstertal to Hohenbalken Castle in the Surselva is conceivable, but not clear.

investment

Castle plan

The structure of the hilltop castle with the tower of Balcun At corresponded in its type to numerous castles in Graubünden and South Tyrol. It was created in one pour and reached a considerable size with a maximum diagonal of the core structure of 41 meters.

At the highest point of a rock head, the remains of an almost square tower have been preserved, its dimensions were around 10 meters with a wall thickness of 1.2 to 1.5 meters. Apart from a nearly two-square-meter section of the wall, the walls have collapsed. Up the slope, the tower was secured by an artificially created neck ditch , which is now filled with rubble .

To the west of the tower, a 20-meter-long section of a wall has been preserved, which followed the steeply sloping plateau edge and closed the system on the valley side. At its northern and southern ends, the wall branched off uphill. The southern branch of the wall can still be seen in parts, at the tower it sinks into the forest floor; the northern one has crashed. Whether it is the remains of a curtain wall or a building cannot be determined without excavations. The interior of the facility does not show any traces of building, but it is filled with considerable debris.

The facility was accessed from the west via a ledge into the rocky southern flank. The Burgweg is still partially recognizable. To the south of the path are flat rock plateaus on which one can imagine small outbuildings.

In September 2000 and 2001, on the initiative of the Grisons Castle Association, with the help of the Müstair community and the Bülach vocational school, fragments of the wall that were in danger of collapsing were uncovered and secured.

history

No information is available about the origins of the castle. The layered masonry and the beginnings of Opus spicatum allow a date to the 12th or 13th century. Small finds that would allow a more precise dating did not come to light.

A facility of this size directly above the episcopal monastery of Müstair could not have been built without approval. It is conceivable that the bishop's servants built the castle. A connection between the builders and the von Hohenbalken family cannot be ruled out, as their representatives repeatedly appear as servants of the bishop.

destruction

When and how the castle was destroyed is also unknown. Traces of charcoal indicate a fire near the tower and the western wall. A collapse on the unstable and rugged subsoil is also conceivable. According to other reports, it is said to have been destroyed by Rudolf von Planta in the confusion of Graubünden .

gallery

  • North corner

  • South corner

  • Remnants of the tower

  • Neck ditch

literature

  • Otto P. Clavadetscher, Werner Meyer : The castle book of Graubünden . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1984, ISBN 3-280-01319-4 .
  • Jürg Goll and Norbert Kaspar, Archaeological Service Canton Graubünden: Annual Report 2001 ; Pp. 12-17
  • Heinrich Boxler, naming of castles in north-eastern Switzerland and in Graubünden , Huber Verlag, Frauenfeld 1976

Web links

Commons : Ruine Balcun At  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Heinrich Boxler: The naming of castles in northeastern Switzerland and in Graubünden ; P. 100