Steinsberg ruins

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Steinsberg ruins
Steinsberg from the east

Steinsberg from the east

Creation time : 12th Century
Castle type : Höhenburg, rocky location
Conservation status: ruin
Place: Ardez
Geographical location 46 ° 46 '27.4 "  N , 10 ° 12' 18"  O Coordinates: 46 ° 46 '27.4 "  N , 10 ° 12' 18"  E ; CH1903:  811242  /  one hundred and eighty-four thousand and sixty-nine
Height: 1521  m above sea level M.
Steinsberg ruins (Canton of Graubünden)
Steinsberg ruins

The castle Steinberg is the ruin of a rock castle at 1,521  m above sea level. M. on a mighty rock head in the east of the village Ardez in the Lower Engadine in the Swiss canton of Graubünden . Like Jörgenberg Castle or Hohenraße, the complex formed a typical early medieval church fort with a curtain wall and a church within the castle area.

investment

Tower east side

At the highest peak of the round by steep cliffs well-protected castle hill next to the reconditioned have keep some significant remains of walls of the main castle and its interior design preserved. Sparse remains of the former outer ring show that the entire hill was once included in the complex. Access was from the east via a natural ramp; a suspected gate in the northeast corner has disappeared. Near the entrance are the ruins of the Church of St. Lucius, of which the north and west walls, the choir arch and part of the apse have been preserved. The church is not facing east , but facing north-south.

The main tower with its four storeys stands on the north edge of the rock. Today's intermediate floors and the roof, which was too flat for the Middle Ages, date from more recent times. A change in the size of the stones used at the level of the second floor could indicate a reconstruction after destruction. What is striking is a wall ledge of around 50 cm at the height of the first floor. The high entrance was in the south wall at the height of the second floor. There was an arbor to the north, but the remains of the beams that are still visible are more recent. Until the 1960s, the tower could be entered through a door on the ground floor that was subsequently broken in, then it was walled up to be on the safe side. The gate to the main castle was probably in the north ring west of the tower. An older walled-up gate can still be seen in the southeast corner.

history

The first officially mentioned owners of the castle appear the Lords of Frickingen near Überlingen on Lake Constance. Albert von Frickingen, who died on February 2, 1209, sold his entire property between Engadin and Bozen and Ardez Castle to the Chur bishop Reinher della Torre (1194–1209) before his death . In 1228, in a settlement with Bishop Berthold von Helfenstein, Count Albert of Tyrol renounced his claims to ownership of Ardez Castle and the diocese set up an episcopal court on Steinsberg.

Due to financial difficulties caused by the power struggle between the count and the bishop, the gotzhus vesti Steinsberg with the castle estate was pledged to the von Planta family for 15 marks annually by the cathedral chapter . In 1357 the opponents reconciled. The bishop undertook to assist the count with the castles Fürstenburg in Vinschgau and Steinsberg in the event of an attack on the Tyrolean rule . After further money problems, the bishop pledged the castle to the Lords of Katzenstein in 1359 . They passed the pledge on, and so around 1400 Steinsberg came into the possession of the Bailiffs von Matsch . In 1421 there was an arbitration award that awarded Steinsberg to the diocese. During the 15th century, the castle was pledged several times. The owners were, among others, Georg Scheck in 1436, Stuppan in 1464 and Balthasar and Jacob Scheck in 1485.

During the Swabian War in 1499 the castle was burned down by imperial troops; Lord of the castle Balthasar Scheck was brought to Meran and murdered there along with other hostages. After that, the castle was only poorly repaired. Hans Planta was a pledge holder from 1502 to 1519. The castle was abandoned during the 16th century.

panorama

gallery

  • View from the east

  • View from west

  • Ardez and ruins of Steinsberg

  • Church of St. Lucius

  • Beam remains

  • East Bering with a walled up door

  • Looking east

literature

  • Thomas Bitterli: Swiss Castle Guide, Friedrich Reinhard Verlag Basel / Berlin, 1995
  • Heinrich Boxler, naming of castles in north-eastern Switzerland and in Graubünden , Huber Verlag, Frauenfeld 1976
  • Otto P. Clavadetscher, Werner Meyer : The castle book of Graubünden . Zurich 1984, ISBN 3-280-01319-4
  • Werner Meyer: Castles of Switzerland . Volume 3. Silva Verlag. Zurich, 1983
  • Castle map of Switzerland, Federal Office of Topography, 2007 edition
  • Willy Zeller: Art and Culture in Graubünden , Haupt Verlag Bern, 1993
  • Fritz Hauswirth: Castles and palaces in Switzerland . Volume 8. Neptun Verlag. Kreuzlingen, 1972

Web links

Commons : Chastè e baselgia, Ardez  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fritz Hauswirth: Castles and palaces in Switzerland . Volume 8.
  2. ^ Fritz Hauswirth: Castles and palaces in Switzerland . Volume 8.
  3. ↑ Otto P. Clavadetscher, Werner Meyer: The Burgenbuch von Graubünden . Zurich 1984