Grünenberg ruins (Melchnau)

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Grünenberg ruins
Schlossberg Melchnau with the castle ruins Grünenberg

Schlossberg Melchnau with the castle ruins Grünenberg

Creation time : 11th century
Castle type : Hilltop castle
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Barons
Place: Melchnau
Geographical location 47 ° 10 '44.5 "  N , 7 ° 51' 29.4"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 10 '44.5 "  N , 7 ° 51' 29.4"  E ; CH1903:  631803  /  225427
Grünenberg ruins (Canton of Bern)
Grünenberg ruins

Grünenberg Castle is the ruin of a hilltop castle on the Schlossberg of Melchnau in the Swiss canton of Bern . The castle was the ancestral seat of the Barons von Grünenberg . The complex was built in stone in the 12th century over previous wooden buildings from the 11th century. The castle was first mentioned in 1248. After several modifications and extensions, the castle came to the city of Bern, which set up a small bailiff there for a few years. From the 16th century Grünenberg was left to decay, the masonry served as a quarry. The castle tower was allegedly blown up in the 19th century for security reasons.

location

The Grünenberg castle ruins are located on the front part of the Schlossberg in Melchnau, a range of hills that protrudes at right angles into the valley of the Melchnau village stream. The outermost spur layer of the hill remained undeveloped and was separated from the castle by a wide ditch . On the Schlossberg, separated by ditches in the neck, there were two more castles on the Grünenberg: at the other end of the Schlossberg, Langenstein Castle , in between the Schnabelburg , which was perhaps just a permanent house .

investment

Over the traces of an earlier wooden complex (probably from the 11th century), Grünenberg Castle was probably first rebuilt in stone in the 12th century. This first stone castle was given an enclosure wall that occupies the entire plateau between the two neck trenches. In the north-western corner is the tower, next to it the so-called south palace . The castle gate in the southern perimeter wall could be reached from the outside via a ramp or a footbridge along the hillside. Next to it, in the south-eastern corner of the castle, there was another building, the so-called North Palace.

Leaning against the south palace was the castle chapel , which was dedicated to St. George . Several renovation and expansion phases can be demonstrated. In the 13th century, the north palace was significantly expanded and now extended over the entire width of the castle. This size made it possible to accommodate a representative knight's hall in the castle. In addition, living space was created because there was probably more than one family of the Barons von Grünenberg on the site.

The castle chapel received a tiled floor around 1270, consisting of relief-decorated clay tiles from the production of the Cistercian monastery of St. Urban . Large parts of the slab floor have been preserved in situ today and are protected by the Swiss Confederation and the Canton of Bern.

In the 14th century Grünenberg Castle underwent a fundamental renovation. The modernization brought the castle residents modern access to the castle via a drawbridge and a kennel . The previous castle gate in the south wall was bricked up, the newly usable space behind it in the castle courtyard was used for a stove.

The castle was originally a Sodbrunnen supplied with water. The well shaft is about 27 meters deep and, according to measurements in the 1990s, supplies water in abundance. The neighboring plants also each had a sod well, which all reached down into the same water-bearing layer. From the 14th century, according to tradition, the castle was supplied from the outside via a water pipe made of wooden dowels . This agrees with the findings of the sod well excavation, because it was intentionally backfilled in the 14th century and was not used afterwards.

exploration

The Grünenberg castle ruins have been the subject of investigations twice. In 1949 an excavation was started with the aim of finding the original dimensions of the castle complex. When the unique chapel floor came to light, the excavation under the direction of René Wyss concentrated on the castle chapel. After completing the investigation, the clay slab floor was given a shelter.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the south wall threatened to collapse with the highest towering walls of the north palace. The refuge above the chapel floor had also become dilapidated. After considering whether to blow up or remove the dangerous components, it was finally decided against it and in favor of a conservation measure. From 1992 to 1998, the remains of the wall were examined and conserved by the Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern.

The slab floor was restored and documented. In the place of the refuge, he received a modern protective structure made of a wood / glass construction with a copper roof. The modern architecture has various advantages: the slab floor is visible to castle visitors from two sides at all times. Because both the glass panes and the copper plates of the roof are not joint-tight, a natural climate was created that was gentle on the floor of the plate. In addition, the building with its pent roof mimics a possible design of the former castle chapel.

literature

  • Daniel Gutscher (among others): Archeology in the Canton of Bern . In: Find reports and essays . tape 2 A. Staatlicher Lehrmittelverlag, Bern 1992.
  • Daniel Gutscher: The Grünenberg Castle in Melchnau . In: Middle Ages, magazine of the Swiss Castle Association . No. 4/1996 , 1996, ISSN  1420-6994 , pp. 77–82, title page .
  • Daniel Gutscher: Melchnau BE, Grünenberg castle ruins . In: Yearbook of the Swiss Society for Prehistory and Protohistory . No. 82 , 1999, pp. 312 ff .
  • Daniel Gutscher: Castle Research in canton Bern - New ways of preservation . Actes du Colloque international de Gwatt (Suisse). In: Château Gaillard XX, Etudes de castellologie médiévale . Caen 2002, p. 111-121 .
  • Daniel Gutscher: New ways of preserving castle monuments: Conservation and revitalization, the example of the Grünenberg ruins in Melchnau BE . Secured ruin or ruined castle? Preserve - repair - use. In: Schweizerischer Burgenverein (Hrsg.): Swiss contributions to the cultural history and archeology of the Middle Ages . tape 31 , 2004, ISSN  1661-4550 .
  • Max Jufer: The barons of Langenstein-Grünenberg . In: Yearbook of the Oberaargau . tape 37 . Merkur Druck AG, Langenthal 1994 ( digitized from biblio.unibe.ch [PDF]).
  • Bernhard Schmid (among others): The Castles of the Canton of Bern: Midlands, Emmental and Oberaargau, Part I . In: Schweizerischer Burgenverein (Ed.): The castles and palaces of Switzerland . Volume Xa. Publishing house E. Birkhäuser & Cie., Basel 1942.
  • Lukas Wenger (among others): Melchnau on the way . Book for the anniversary Melchnau 900 years. Merkur Druck AG, Langenthal 2000.
  • Lukas Wenger: Ganerbensitz Grünenberg? - The ownership structure of the Barons von Grünenberg examined with the help of a genealogical database . In: Burgen und Schlösser, magazine of the German Burgenvereinigung e. V. No. 3/2007 . European Castle Institute, 2007, ISSN  0007-6201 , p. 152-155 ( grunenberg.net ).
  • René Wyss: Grünenberg . In: Ur-Schweiz . Volume XIII, No. 3 , 1949, pp. 42-47 .

Web links

Commons : Ruine Grünenberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files