Wartenstein ruins
| Wartenstein ruins | ||
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 Wartenstein tower ruins from below |
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| Creation time : | 13th Century | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Standing position : | Noble | |
| Place: | Lauperswil | |
| Geographical location | 46 ° 58 '15.7 " N , 7 ° 43' 57.3" E | |
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The Wartenstein ruins are the ruins of a medieval hilltop castle from the 13th century in the municipality of Lauperswil in the canton of Bern .
Location and description
The ruin lies on a narrow mountain ridge of the Hundschüpfen and is surrounded on three sides by moats . On the southern plateau stood the castle with a tower, an inner courtyard and a palas . The kennel and the water well were on the east side . Today the area is forested, but the remains of the tower and the foundation walls are still visible. The ruin is freely accessible as a resting and barbecue area.
history
The time of construction is not certain. From 1228 the knights Swaro von Wartenstein are named as owners. These could possibly be the successors / descendants of the Lords of Rüderswil, with their headquarters located nearby, the Zwingherrenhubel, southwest of Rüderswil . In 1284 the last of the von Wartenstein family, knight Heinrich Swaro von Wartenstein, sold the castle and lordship of Wartenstein to the Trub monastery and then managed the lordship as a fief . Heinrich Swaro died in 1288 and the castle was acquired by Werner von Schweinsberg from Eggiwil , Werner von Attinghausen's father . In 1383 the Burgdorf War broke out between the city of Bern and the Counts of Neu-Kyburg . The Bernese captured Wartenstein Castle and burned it down. In 1415 the last male representative of Thuringia von Schweinsberg died and the property passed to his son-in-law Ulrich von Balmoos . In 1493 Wilhelm Hug von Sulz from Basel inherited the Wartenstein rule and built a new seat in the valley. After several changes of ownership, the Güder family from Bern bought the Wartenstein property in 1603. In 1690 the rule was dissolved and the Landvogtei Trachselwald was incorporated and remained there until the French invasion in 1798. At the beginning of the 20th century they wanted to blow up the remains of the castle. In 1965 the ruin was preserved. Many stratigraphic references were destroyed in the process. The castle site is now owned by the Zollbrück local association.
legend
The last lord of the castle of Wartenstein is said to have thrown the family treasure into the water well during the siege by the Bernese and threw himself in full armor with his daughter and his warhorse over the cliff. To this day, the great castle dog is guarding the never-found treasure and is sitting at the site of the water fountain at midnight. When the church bell in Lauperswil strikes one o'clock, he leaves his place and goes into the village to drink water at the church fountain. Then he enters the cemetery and disappears.
literature
- Bernhard Schmid, Franz Moser: The castles and palaces of the canton of Bern: Mittelland, Emmental and Oberaargau , Part II. Basel 1942. pp. 71-74.
- Thomas Bitterli: Swiss Castle Guide . Basel / Berlin 1995. No. 138.
- Hans Minder: Heimatbuch von Lauperswil, Lauperswil 2003.
Web links
- Castle world: Wartenstein Castle
- Information about the ruins at lauperswil.ch
- Reconstruction on kornspycher.ch