Aarwangen Castle

The Schloss Aarwangen is a castle in the town of Aarwangen in the Swiss canton of Bern . It is a monument of regional importance. It is located on the south bank of the Aare by the Aarwangen bridge on the main road from Niederbipp to Langenthal.

history

Aarwangen Castle was built by the Lords of Aarwangen , Kyburg ministerial nobility , in the 13th century to secure the important river crossing. Knight Burkart von Aarwangen is proven to be the first lord of the castle of Aarwangen . As a result, the castle remained in the possession of the Lords of Aarwangen. In the second half of the 13th century and in the first half of the 14th century, the lords of Aarwangen were among the leading families in Oberaargau and at the Kyburg court in Burgdorf . After the extinction of Aarwanger in 1341 fell village and reign on the Green Mountain , the ministerials of Habsburg were.

After the takeover of Burgdorf in 1384 the Bernese sphere of influence shifted step by step to the east. After the Confederates wrested Aargau from the Habsburgs in 1415 , Bern bought the Aarwangen castle and estate from Wilhelm von Grünenberg in 1432. This laid the foundation stone for the bailiff in Aarwangen Castle, which lasted until the end of the Bernese city-state in spring 1798. Then the castle was sold to private individuals. A total of 75 bailiffs resided in the castle.

In 1803 Aarwangen became the official capital again and in 1805 Bern bought the castle back. Since then, the castle has served the Bernese administration as a chancellery, court and prison.

It had special tasks in the Peasants' War in 1653: it had additional functions as a horse changing station for the Bernese express couriers and as an armory.

History of architecture and art

Aarwangen Castle (around 1850)

Aarwangen Castle is a striking building complex, dominated by an early Gothic main tower and renovated in Baroque style, directly at the river crossing. The horseshoe-shaped curtain wall, formerly with a ditch open to the Aare, can be seen in the south and west, as is the corner tower by the bridge. The dominant feature is the nine-storey, uninhabitable main tower from the 13th century, made of a well-tended boss block, and in 1624 the top storey and the beautiful volute gable were added in a remarkable adaptation to the medieval structure.

Residential buildings surround the tower on three sides, the core is medieval, numerous renovations up to the 20th century. Stair tower 1643. Equipment from the 17th and 18th centuries. With Trachselwald, Aarwangen has the most beautiful and well-kept medieval castle tower, and a special feature is its staircase, which is recessed in the wall.

Aarwangen Castle was originally a moated castle . The castle was open to the east, with a square tower covering the entrance. Above the bank of the Aare to the north, the Palas rose parallel to the river, separated from the tower by a narrow courtyard that was built over in the 18th century. Also in the shape of a horseshoe, a ditch about 15 meters wide separated the curtain wall from the foreland. A series of large ponds on the mountain side formed an additional obstacle. In the middle of the castle ring stood the massive donjon , originally an uninhabitable defense tower, with walls up to 2.5 meters thick.