Freienstein ruins

Freienstein ruins
	Freienstein castle ruins
Alternative name (s):	Alten-Teufen Castle
Creation time :	around 1250
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	ruin
Standing position :	Free nobles
Place:	Freienstein-Teufen
Geographical location	47 ° 32 '2 " N , 8 ° 35' 14" E Coordinates: 47 ° 32 '2 " N , 8 ° 35' 14" E ; CH1903: six hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred and eighty-six / 265,428
Height:	460 m above sea level M.

The ruins of Freienstein , also called Alten-Teufen Castle , are the ruins of a hilltop castle at 460 m above sea level. M. in the municipality of Freienstein-Teufen in the canton of Zurich on a hill above a vineyard.

history

The castle was built around 1250 by a Baron von Tengen . In 1254 Conrad de Tengen gave it to his daughter Ita and her husband, Freiherr Egolf von Hasle (also Egilolf de Hasli). In this context, the castle is first mentioned in a document. Egolf and his descendants now called themselves Barons von Freienstein . This also gave the village the name Freienstein. The hazel branch in the (new) coat of arms indicates the descent of the Barons von Hasli, the lion probably goes back to the Kyburg lion.

In 1302 Egolf sold the Meierhof Freienstein to the Töss monastery with the consent of his sons Heinrich and Johannes . This Heinrich was married to Nertha von Tüfen , was a district judge in Zurichgau in 1282 and died after 1314.

Coat of arms of the Lords of Freienstein

In 1334 or 1338 the castle was apparently destroyed by the citizens of Zurich, but then rebuilt. In 1360, with Johannes von Freienstein, the Freiensteiner family died out in the male line. After that, the castle changed hands several times. In 1436 the Schaffhausen knight Herrmann Künsch was the owner of the castle. Since he had captured a man from the county of Kyburgern in 1443 , Winterthurer and Diessenofer moved in front of the castle under the governor and later mayor of Zurich Heinrich Schwend and burned it down. The prisoner was forgotten in his dungeon and suffocated in smoke.

In 1485 the knight Felix Schwarzmurer acquired the castle. After his death in 1492 the ruins came to Hans Erhart and Urban to the Thor of Teufen. Jurisdiction and rule of Teufen passed to the von Meiss family in Zurich , who owned it until it was sold in 1838. The last owner was Lieutenant Colonel Gottfried von Meiss-Trachsler (1785–1862). In 1975 the Meiss-Trachsler community of heirs donated the ruins to the canton of Zurich. Thanks to a donation from the castle friend Franz Xaver Arnet and contributions from the federal government, canton and municipality, the ruins were preserved in 1976 and placed under the protection of the Swiss Confederation.

In 1806 most of the castle stones were dismantled and used to build the Töss Bridge.

The heart well

Tufa fountain

The water well west of the tower was discovered in 1968. In 1981/82 it was completely excavated. From the bottom of the moat , the builders drove a 2.30-meter-long shaft with a side length of 2.40 meters and a depth of 26.40 meters into the Molasse rock . Tufa blocks 10 and 15 meters deep show that the shaft was bricked up to the height of the tower base. The total depth of the well is 33.5 meters.

The legend about the end of the castle

On a winter day the pretty daughter of a free Embracher, a respected, influential man, paid a visit to friends. In doing so, she forgot the time, and she could not begin her return until she slept. She had to march through the dark forest and suddenly she noticed with horror that she was being followed by a hungry wolf. However, she was able to get to safety in the Kymenhof. After a young boy there offered to accompany her home, the two fell in love and promised loyalty. At this time the robber baron von Freienstein knew about the beauty of the girl. He wanted the girl at his castle, but was always rejected. One day when the girl was looking for firewood alone in the forest, the robber baron came and tried to persuade her again to come to the castle with him. She refused and the knight put her on his horse and took her to his castle, where she had to submit to his will. Her father tried a clever trick - he was employed by the robber baron as a Swabian falconer - to free his daughter, which he succeeded. But he himself was discovered by the knight and thrown into the dungeon. The daughter immediately alerted her father's most influential friends on the Kyburg. The Landgrave of Kyburg immediately went to Freienstein Castle with a group of heavily armed warriors to free their father. After a siege, the castle tower could be set on fire and so the fortress could be captured. When the Kyburgers celebrated their victory, they forgot their father in the dungeon and until they remembered him, the poor man had suffocated in his dark cellar.

literature

Fritz Hauswirth: Castles and Palaces of Switzerland (Twelve Volumes), Volume 4: Zurich, Schaffhausen. Neptun, Kreuzlingen 1968 (2nd, extended edition. Ibid. 1979, DNB 890532192 ), new edition in one volume: Burgenführer der Schweiz: Guide to 145 castles, palaces and ruins that can be visited , Neptun, Kreuzlingen 1981, ISBN 3-85820-011-5 .

Hans Baer: Legends and sagas from the Embrachertal , 28th New Year's sheet of the reading society Bülach, Bülach 1980 OCLC 730260597 ; Pp. 16-22.

Werner Wild: The Freienstein castle ruins - excavations 1968–1982 . In: Archeology in the Canton of Zurich 2003–2005 (18th report / 2006) ISBN 978-3-905681-22-2 . Pp. 75–127 with 17 plates (186 found objects) and a list of sources at the end of the volume

Web links

Commons : Ruine Freienstein - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Johann Adam Pupikofer : History of the Thurgau. Volume 1: From primeval times to the year 1499. Self-published, Bischofzell 1828.

and display information about the image

360 ° panorama from the ruins of Freienstein

[1] Johann Adam Pupikofer : History of the Thurgau. Volume 1: From primeval times to the year 1499. Self-published, Bischofzell 1828.