Kastelen ruins
| Kastelen ruins | ||
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 Kastelen ruins |
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| Creation time : | 1249-1253 | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Place: | Alberswil | |
| Geographical location | 47 ° 8 '49 " N , 7 ° 59' 34.7" E | |
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The ruin Kastelen is a castle ruin in the west of Alberswil , a political municipality in the Amt Willisau , canton Lucerne , Switzerland . The castle was built in the 13th century by the Counts of Kyburg . At the time of the Peasant War , the castle was looted and damaged. In 1743, the state of Lucerne had the castle removed down to the outer walls of the main building. From 1996 the ruins were professionally restored. Since 2006 it has had a publicly accessible observation tower. Next to the ruins of the residential tower is a 57.6 m deep Sodbrunnen .
location
The remains of the former hilltop castle is 651 m above sea level. M. on a wooded hill in the Lucerne hinterland. It can be reached on foot from Alberswil, for example, or from the Burgrain Agricultural Museum in just under half an hour. We recommend the path via Kastelen Castle, because from there a beautiful hornbeam avenue leads to the edge of the forest.
The ruin itself is at the top of the hill and is surrounded on three sides by beech forest. Only towards the east is the view clear between three mighty linden trees.
history
Archaeological studies show that the castle hill of Kastelen was already visited in the Neolithic Age. In the Late Bronze Age there was a settlement on the hilltop. In the High Middle Ages a wooden earth castle was built, from which the location of a residential tower surrounded by palisades could be proven. The written sources are silent on this early castle complex. The residential tower, the remains of which are still visible today, was built in 1249–1253 by Count Hartmann V of Kyburg . When the Kyburgs died out around 1264, the castle passed to the Habsburgs . Kastelen became the center of a Habsburg administrative district in 1273. The castle survived the onslaught of the Guglers in 1375 and was spared in the Sempach War in 1386 thanks to the good relations of the Luternauer ( vassals of the Habsburgs) to Lucerne.
In 1482, the Lucerne mayor Hans Feer bought the Kastelen estate. In 1598 the rule came into the hands of the Lucerne city patrician Hans Ulrich Heinserlin, who undertook an extensive renovation of the castle. After Heinserlin went bankrupt, in 1645 the city-state of Lucerne took over the unfinished and from then on vacant palace complex. During the Peasants' War in 1653, the castle was looted and badly damaged as a symbol of urban rule, but the building was repaired at the expense of the farmers responsible.
In 1680 the imperial knight Franz von Sonnenberg acquired the rule including the castle property. His nephew Heinrich von Sonnenberg built Kastelen Castle in 1682, which is about halfway up between the ruins and Alberswil. In 1743, the state of Lucerne had the crumbling castle demolished down to the outer walls of the main building.
On July 22, 1996, the Kastelen Castle Ruins Association bought the area of around 28 arenas with the castle site for a symbolic price. This association, which was founded on June 27, 1996 and has several hundred members, has since taken care of the professional security, preservation and presentation of the ruins in a way that is suitable for visitors.
In 1998 the restoration began, with an architectural historical examination and documentation of the masonry taking place first. After securing and repairing the ruin of the residential tower - especially the top floor, which is in danger of collapsing - the cantonal archeology department carried out informative excavations in the tower in 2002. In 2006 a free-standing observation tower was built into the tower ruins.
investment
Residential tower ruin
Apart from distinct terrain features are from the medieval castle only the tower house -Ruine and Sodbrunnen left. Dendrochronological studies of the remains of beams still stuck in the masonry allow the construction work on the Kyburg castle to be dated between 1249 and 1253.
The residential tower, still 21 m high today, with a high entrance consisted of the ground floor used as a cellar and four upper floors. The three arched windows on the south and east facades indicate that there was a house chapel on the first floor. A kitchen was set up in the north-west corner of the 2nd floor during the late Middle Ages. On the 3rd floor there were living rooms with a tiled stove. The 4th floor with its four corner cores and large window openings is to be addressed as a defense platform. In the 16th century, this floor was expanded into another residential floor.
Heart well
A few meters away from the tower is the water well. In the winter of 2003/2004, the cover that was attached in the 20th century was removed, the well cleared to the ground and rebuilt. At 57.6 m, it is one of the deepest wells of its kind in Switzerland. The fountain is illuminated with two lamps so that visitors can see through the grating down to the water level. The water level remains constant at 2.2 m, as the 200 liters of water that flow in every day can flow away again through a permeable layer above the Nagelfluh rock . Findings from archaeological investigations indicate that the Sodbrunnen was built in the late Middle Ages, i.e. that it was added to the castle complex at a later date.
Observation tower
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Lookout tower castle ruins Kastelen
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| Basic data | |
| Place: | Alberswil |
| Canton: | Lucerne |
| Country: | Switzerland |
| Altitude : | 651 m |
| Coordinates : | 642045 / 221921 |
| Use: | Observation tower |
| Accessibility: | Observation tower open to the public |
| Tower data | |
| Construction time : | 2006 |
| Building material : | steel |
| Operating time: | since 2006 |
| Total height : | 21.16 m |
| Viewing platform: | 20.00 m |
In 2006, a free-standing observation tower was built into the existing ruin residential tower. Access to this tower is made possible by an outside staircase that leads to the high entrance of the residential tower.
The observation tower is a metal construction with two platforms that are connected by stairs. The lower platform allows a good view of the inside of the ruin. During guided tours, it is also possible to get to the floor of the residential tower from there in order to see the ruins from inside in their entire height.
From the upper platform, the tower offers an impressive 360 ° panorama. In the vicinity you have a good view of the surrounding communities or, for example, of Wyher Castle . With good visibility you can also see Säntis , parts of the Alps , the Jura or the Swiss plateau .
Outside stairs
Inner staircase
Viewing platform
literature
- Alois Häfliger, Willisau: Kastelen Castle , local history of the Wiggertal, 1996, published by the Wiggertal Homeland Association
- Ferdinand Andermatt, Willisau: Kyburger , Heimatkunde des Wiggertal, 2006, published by the Heimatvereinigung Wiggertal
- Fabian Küng, Jakob Obrecht, Waltraud Hörsch et al .: Kastelen Castle near Alberswil. Prehistoric settlement, aristocratic castle and patrician country residence in Lucerne's Wiggertal , Basel: Schweizerischer Burgenverein, 2017.
Web links
Alt Eschenbach | Beromünster | Grünenberg | Hasenburg | Heidegg | Kastelen | Lieli | Mauensee | Meggenhorn | New Habsburg | → Richensee | Schauensee | Wikon | Wyher
Maple Tower | Old Church Lungern | Glacier Garden Tower | Hammetschwand lift | Kastelen castle ruins | Lieli | Männliturm | Melchsee-Frutt Panorama Lift | Reuss Delta Tower | Rigi transmission tower | Schirmerturm | Carving tower | Schwanderturm | Animal park tower | Türmli | Wauwilermoosturm | Wissifluhturm | Zytturm