Bernegg ruins

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Bernegg
Separation wall, built in 1935

Separation wall, built in 1935

Creation time : around 1250
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Hinwil
Geographical location 47 ° 18 '32 "  N , 8 ° 52' 1.1"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 18 '32 "  N , 8 ° 52' 1.1"  E ; CH1903:  708003  /  240 761
Height: 781  m above sea level M.
Bernegg ruins (Canton of Zurich)
Bernegg ruins

The ruin Bernegg is the ruin of a hilltop castle northeast of Hinwil in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland. It can be easily reached in a few minutes from the car park below Girenbad. It is a typical example of one of the numerous clearing castles that were built in the region around the Bachtel in the 12th and 13th centuries , but without ever attaining any historical significance.

investment

Plan of Bernegg Castle

The castle was due to its location at 781  m above sea level. M. on a hilltop on the north and north-west side on the edge of the Wildbachtobel by a 40 meter high steep slope naturally well protected. Trenches were dug on the other sides , which can still be seen today. A second trench was dug on the east side, where the entrance was presumably.

  • Castle hill and inner moat

  • outer ditch

  • both trenches

The two-part trapezoidal system of 25 by 13.5 meters follows the edge of the plateau on the north side. The 2 meter thick outer walls consisted of Bollensteinen, Nagelfluh , tuff and sandstone blocks . In the eastern part there was probably the residential wing, on the western half the castle courtyard with wooden economic buildings. On the west and east sides there were unpaved forecourts outside the walls. The inner partition wall and the gate were reconstructed in 1935 based on finds. A donjon seems to have failed.

history

The Lords of Bernegg are first mentioned in a document in 1229; the castle may have been built around the same time. The Lords of Bernegg were in the service of the St. Gallen Monastery and the Counts of Rapperswil . The same first names and common appearance in witness lists indicate close connections to the Lords of Landenberg .

The income from the small lordship was not enough to guarantee the knight family a long-term existence. In the last third of the 13th century more and more goods had to be sold. Part of the property was sold to the Johanniterkomturei Bubikon in 1277 and the castle itself was sold in 1283. In the sales contract it was stated that the system would have to be canceled by Messrs. Von Bernegg within three weeks: And after that, in three weeks, the castle muds all and the bu inne should break the earth . The lack of found objects suggests that the castle was systematically evacuated before it was razed.

The lords of Bernegg can still be traced back to 1318. After that, they either died out or lived on under different names elsewhere. Around 1900 the remains of the wall were no longer visible. Bernegg was first excavated in 1923, but no archaeological investigation was carried out. Further renovations took place in 1935 and 1939. In 1974 the facility was renovated for the last time.

  • Looking east

  • eastern forecourt

  • Vest corner

literature

  • Castle map of Switzerland, 2007 edition, Federal Office of Topography / Swiss Castle Association
  • Werner Meyer : Castles of Switzerland . Volume 5. Silva Verlag. Zurich, 1983
  • Hermann Fietz: The art monuments of the canton of Zurich , Vol. II: The districts of Bülach, Dielsdorf, Hinwil, Horgen and miles. Basel 1943

Web links

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