Engenstein ruins

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Engenstein ruins
The Engenstein (Alt-Schalberg ruins)

The Engenstein (Alt-Schalberg ruins)

Alternative name (s): Vorder-Schalberg or Alt-Schalberg
Creation time : around 1200 to 1225
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Pfeffingen
Geographical location 47 ° 27 '51.9 "  N , 7 ° 34' 8.9"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 27 '51.9 "  N , 7 ° 34' 8.9"  E ; CH1903:  609 840  /  257080
Height: 430  m above sea level M.
Engenstein ruins (Canton of Basel-Country)
Engenstein ruins
Neighboring Schalberg

The Engenstein castle ruins , also known as Vorder-Schalberg or Alt-Schalberg , belong to the village of Pfeffingen in the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland .

location

The ruins of the Höhenburg are located on the a few hundred meters long stretch of the Aescher Burgengratweg between the Schalberg ruins and the Münchsberg ruins . It is 430  m above sea level. M. on a very small rock head, which can be climbed today via a metal ladder (at your own risk). The narrowness of this complex resulting from the small size of this rock head - which was more sufficient for the construction of a 'fortified house' than for a castle - was probably the inspiration for the name.

investment

The facility, which is also called Vorder-Schalberg or Alt-Schalberg , is located between the remains of Münchsberg Castle (only 280 meters as the crow flies) and those of the former Schalberg Castle . The entrance to the complex originally led steeply from the west over the rocky ridge and should have been so narrow that it was only accessible to humans.

The surface of the rock head was artificially leveled and in the eastern part of this level a cellar was crushed into the rock (see photo). The cellar staircase carved out of the rock is still accessible today. The beam holes in the basement wall that supported the beam ceiling above the basement are also still very clearly visible.

The last excavations were carried out from 1963 to 1970 by a private working group. All finds are exhibited in the Aesch local history museum .

history

The castle stood on Schalerschem's own property - which suggests that the Schaler should build it - and probably served as a mansion and residence of the Basel family of Schaler before the Schalberg Castle was completed . It's only 100 meters from here to Schalberg, and there is visual contact. It was probably built by the Schaler in the first quarter of the 13th century . Archaeological finds suggest that the most intensive use took place in the second half of the 13th century. It can be assumed that it lost much of its importance with the construction of Schalberg Castle: A few archaeological finds that are assigned to the 14th century support the assumption that it was still used to a reduced extent. This ruin, together with Schalberg Castle, passed to the Counts of Thierstein (as an episcopal fief) when the Schaler family died out in the 14th century.

The ruin was unknown because of the lack of sources and was discovered by Walther Merz shortly after the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1975 it was excavated and preserved .

literature

  • Werner Meyer : Castles from A to Z - Burgenlexikon der Regio . Published by the Castle Friends of both Basels on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. Klingental printing works, Basel 1981, pp. 93–94.
  • Carl Roth: The castles and palaces of the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft . Birkhäuser, Basel 1932. (See section on Schalberg)

Web links