Freudenberg Castle (Bad Ragaz)

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Freudenberg Castle
Freudenberg ruins

Freudenberg ruins

Creation time : around 1200 to 1250
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Bad Ragaz
Geographical location 47 ° 0 ′ 32 "  N , 9 ° 29 ′ 33"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 0 ′ 32 "  N , 9 ° 29 ′ 33"  E ; CH1903:  seven hundred and fifty-six thousand one hundred sixty-seven  /  208 470
Freudenberg Castle (Canton of St. Gallen)
Freudenberg Castle

The ruins of Freudenberg is one of the largest castles in Sarganserland . The hilltop castle is located on a rocky hill about one kilometer northwest of Bad Ragaz in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen .

investment

Plan of the castle on the wall of the corner tower
Remains of the main castle with beam holes

The main castle dates from the first half of the 13th century and consists of a keep with a trapezoidal floor plan. The high entrance with a round arch made of red arable stone is at a height of seven meters. To the east of the keep are the foundations of a multi-part residential wing.

By a portion of trench separated and by a circular wall protected Vorburg is 80 m long and 60 m wide. It was protected in the southwest corner by a round tower . A farm building stood on the southern curtain wall; some base stones and traces of the wall can still be seen. The dimensions of the outer bailey suggest that a small castle town was planned here, but it was never built.

history

The builders were the Freiherren von Wildenberg , who owned large estates in the Flims / Ilanz area and in the Engadin , had already built Wartau Castle on the Martinsberg in the Rhine Valley and were trying to expand their area northwards via Ragaz and Trübbach . In 1253 Heinrich von Wildenberg is mentioned for the first time as Lord von Freudenberg. In 1261 the family took over the parish of the Pfäfers monastery with Wartenstein Castle .

Through Heinrich von Wildenberg's daughter Anna (mentioned 1320; † 1334) she came to her husband, Count Hugo III , in 1320 . from Werdenberg-Heiligenberg . In 1402 it was pledged together with Wartau Castle to the Dukes of Austria, who in 1406 passed them on to Count Friedrich VII of Toggenburg as pledge . After his death in 1436, Freudenberg reverted to Austria.

Because of a dispute over the legacy of the last Toggenburg count, Freudenberg was besieged on May 26, 1437 by troops from Zurich, Chur and the Gray League and shot at with slingshots and powder cans. The Austrian Vogt Ulrich Spiess resisted until his team mutinied. The castle was then captured by the besiegers, looted and set on fire. In 1446, however, Michel von Freiberg was mentioned as the Austrian Vogt over the dominions of Freudenberg, Nidberg and Walenstadt ; the Austrians seem to have temporarily enforced their rights again. In 1460 the ruins came to the Swiss Confederation, who had conquered large areas of the Sarganserland during the Old Zurich War . After 1483 the Freudenberg plant belonged to the common rule of Sargan. Since it was no longer of any military use, it was abandoned and increasingly fell into ruin.

In 1803 Freudenberg came into the possession of the canton of St. Gallen, in 1825 into the possession of the Pfäfers monastery and after its abolition in 1838 returned to the state. In 1868 the castle came into private ownership and was last owned by the Swiss Castle Association . Under the leadership of the first president, the ruins of the centuries were cleared from the complex and the keep was restored in 1929.

Later archaeological investigations were carried out in the outer bailey under the direction of Hans Erb , who later became head of the Rhaetian Museum ; however, the results have never been published. In 1977 and 1984/85 the entire system was restored. The facility has been owned by the Bad Ragaz community since 1985 and can be visited freely.

  • gallery

  • Round tower with a later gate

  • Remains of the farm buildings

  • Corner tower

legend

According to a legend told by the locals, a beautiful virgin is said to have been banished to the Freudenberg ruins. The virgin eagerly waits to be redeemed by a young man. The one who redeems her receives the virgin and a fabulous treasure that lies hidden.

Open air

The Quellrock Open Air takes place every year in June on the ruins . With over 40 years it is one of the oldest and most traditional music festivals in Switzerland.

The next festival will take place on June 19 and 20, 2020. [outdated]

literature

  • Werner Meyer : Castles of Switzerland . Zurich, 1983
  • Werner Meyer, Eduard Widmer: The great castle book of Switzerland . Zurich, 1977
  • Peter Rothenhäusler: The art monuments of the canton of St.Gallen. Volume I: The Sargans District . Basel, 1951
  • Thomas Bitterli-Waldvogel: Swiss Castle Guide . Basel / Berlin, 1995. No. 453. / Information boards at the castle.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Quellrock Festival. Retrieved July 27, 2019 .