Pfeffingen ruins

Pfeffingen ruins
	Residential tower of the Pfeffingen ruin
Creation time :	around 1135
Castle type :	Hilltop castle
Conservation status:	ruin
Place:	Pfeffingen
Geographical location	47 ° 27 '12 " N , 7 ° 35' 29" E Coordinates: 47 ° 27 '12 " N , 7 ° 35' 29" E ; CH1903: 611,521 / 255850

The Pfeffingen ruins standing on the ridge of the Blue in basel scenic Pfeffingen in Switzerland . The ruins of the hill fort are remains of the imposing palace and castle, which were once the headquarters of the Counts of Thierstein -Pfeffingen. They are from the Birseck and the Angensteinerstrasse - Klus forth clearly visible.

origin

In the area around Aesch and Pfeffingen there was originally a Franconian royal court, which came to a local ruling dynasty in the early 11th century. However, neither buildings nor remains of the castle complex that was built at this time have survived. In 1135 a "Notker von Pfeffingen" was mentioned for the first time, who was probably related to the Count von Saugern .

With the inheritance of the Counts von Saugern, the castle fell to the Counts of Thierstein at the end of the 12th century, who took possession of it next to Dorneck Castle as the center of power and made it the residence of Thierstein servants. In 1212, a Schaffner von Pfeffingen family was first mentioned who lived in the castle.

Castle of the 13th and 14th centuries

Ruins of Pfeffingen Castle from the north

In the middle of the 13th century the castle was completely redesigned. The shield wall and the large residential tower as parts of the northern Bering go back to this time . After this major renovation, the Thiersteiner family took up residence at the castle themselves. At the beginning of the 14th century the castle became dependent on the diocese of Basel for unexplained reasons and the relationship between the bishop and Thiersteiner was not the best. In 1335 the Bishop of Basel besieged the castle, but without success.

When the great Basel earthquake shook the area in 1356 , Pfeffingen Castle was also damaged. The legend of the miraculous rescue of Walram von Thierstein -Pfeffingen comes from this time . The castle was quickly rebuilt and on this occasion it was supplemented by a western kennel, an outer gate and the witch's tower.

Around the middle of the 14th century, the Thiersteiner family split into two lines. One line inhabited the Farnsburg and the other Neu-Thierstein and Pfeffingen.

Castle in the 15th century

When the Counts of Thierstein-Pfeffingen tried to expand their rule by all means, they came into a conflict with the city of Basel , whereupon it successfully besieged and burned the castle in 1376. The castle was then restored. In 1406 there was another feud and the city troops moved to Burg again, but the dispute was settled by Thuringia von Ramstein.

The counts now closely followed Habsburg - Austria and driven off during the Old Zurich War trade with the enemies of Basel. In April 1445 there was another siege of the castle by the Basler, who conquered and occupied Pfeffingen. During Carnival in 1446, the Austrian bailiff Peter von Mörsberg managed to recapture Pfeffingen with a surprise attack, whereupon Basel moved in front of the contested castle for the fourth time, but without success. It was not until 1449 that the conflict between Basel, Count Hans von Thierstein-Pfeffingen and the nobility loyal to Austria could be resolved.

But when the son of Count Hans von Thierstein-Pfeffingen, Count Oswald I, entered the castle rights of the city of Solothurn , the arch enemy of Basel, in 1464 , this repeatedly brought him into conflict with the city and diocese of Basel. His sons Wilhelm and Oswald II dissolved the castle rights with Solothurn. They sided with the Austrians in the Swabian War of 1499 and waged a stubborn guerrilla war against the neighboring Solothurn dominion of Dorneck. After the Battle of Dornach, the Confederates took position in front of the castle, but did not impress the two counts.

Engraving of the castle from 1754

Decline of the castle

With the deaths of Oswald II (1513) and Wilhelm (1519), the von Thierstein-Pfeffingen family died out.

Then Basel occupied the castle, to which Solothurn had also laid claim. The dispute over the inheritance could not be settled until 1522, whereby Pfeffingen now belonged to the bishop, who appointed a bailiff.

The castle, badly damaged by the numerous wars, could hardly be maintained. In 1571, a new residential wing was built to replace the old residential tower and a tower-reinforced gate and a bridge were built in the eastern part of the complex.

During the Thirty Years' War the castle was occupied by Swedish troops under Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar in 1637 and only left to the bishop eleven years later in a very poor condition. Around 1750 the castle was finally abandoned by the Blarer von Wartensee family, who moved their official residence to Aesch Castle .

After that, a hermit lived temporarily in the castle. In 1761 the castle was auctioned for demolition and quickly fell into disrepair.

ruin

Information board on the Pfeffingen ruins

From 1931 the ruins were uncovered and restored or conserved . The imposing castle ruin has belonged to the canton of Basel-Land since 1941.

The extensive ruin has the remains of the mighty residential tower in the center . The shield wall and bering, which also date from the 13th century, can also be seen. In addition, there are remains of several towers, gates, various buildings and the curtain wall.

The ruins were extensively renovated by the canton of Basel-Landschaft for around 7.2 million Swiss francs between 2013 and 2017. The official reopening took place on August 13, 2017. It is now again fully accessible to visitors.

gallery

Restored ruin
entrance
Indoor
Interior of the kennel
Apartment tower from the inside
Tower from the outside
Bridge over the moat
View of the Roche Tower in Basel
Panoramic view of Basel

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. 113–117.
Michael Schmaedecke: The Pfeffingen ruins, Pfeffingen BL - Preliminary report on the new findings on building history gained during the renovation from 2013 to 2017. In: Mittelalter - Zeitschrift des Schweizerischen Burgenverein, Volume 23, 2018/1, March 2018, pp. 4–54 pdf; accessed on April 5, 2019

Web links

Refurbishment : Pfeffingen ruins closed for security reasons. Basler Zeitung , 2016
Castle world: Pfeffingen Castle
Illustrations for the construction investigation at the ruins of Pfeffingen for the Archeology Baselland 2017, by Joe Rohrer
Video ruin Pfeffingen October 2018