Castell Castle

The Castell Castle is located in the town of Tägerwilen in the Swiss canton of Thurgau . It is one of the most important historical palace complexes in Switzerland.

East of Castell are the ruins of the originating from the 12th century Castell . It is one of the largest medieval fortifications in the Lake Constance area .

North side of Castell Castle

Castell Castle

South side

Castell Castle, sometimes also referred to as Ober-Castell , is located above the municipality of Tägerwilen on a hill on the Thurgau ridge . It goes back to the Junker Konrad Vogt von Wartenfels from Constance, who in 1585 had a mansion built in the style of the late Renaissance instead of a farmhouse , which still forms the core of the complex today. Before 1635 the property changed to Junker Beat Jakob Segesser von Brunegg, who was the Bishop of Constance for Klingnau and Arbon. In 1661 the property came into the possession of the St. Gallen brothers Zollikofer von Altenklingen , who arranged for the castle to be rebuilt in 1725.

This passed in 1790 to the Junker Daniel von Scherer from St. Gallen. In 1871 506 members of the Bourbaki army were housed on the property for four weeks . A descendant of Daniel von Scherer, Baron Maximilian (Max) von Scherer-Scherburg (1848–1901), had the seat redesigned between 1878 and 1894 by the architect Emil Otto Tafel into a representative neo-renaissance palace. Between 1892 and 1894 the property was also decorated by Carl von Häberlin with frescoes depicting various sections of the history of the castle. A replica of a “Moorish hall” from the Alhambra in Granada ( Spain ) deserves a mention.

By inheritance, the castle came into the possession of the von Stockar- Scherer-Castell family in 1901 , who are now the fourth generation to own it. An agricultural and forestry operation totaling 160 hectares forms the economic basis of the property.

Castell Castle is not open to the public, but can be seen clearly from the road passing by through a visual lane. The pond belonging to the castle and the surrounding forest are open to the public.

Castell ruin

Basic data

Place:

Tägerwilen

Canton:

Thurgau

Country:

Switzerland

Altitude :

506 m

Coordinates: 47 ° 38 '43.2 " N , 9 ° 8' 2.2" E ; CH1903: seven hundred and twenty-seven thousand three hundred eighty / 278563

Use:

Observation tower , observation deck

Accessibility:

Observation tower open to the public

Tower data

Construction time :

early 13th century

Building material :

stone

Last modification:

2007-2008

Total height :

13 m

Viewing platform:

12 m

Position map

Castell ruin

history

Coat of arms of the Schenk von Castell

To the east of Castell Castle, separated by a brook gorge, are the ruins of Castell Castle, which dates back to the 12th century. To better distinguish it from the castle, the castle is also referred to as Unter-Castell . At 120 meters long and 30 meters wide, Castell Castle is one of the largest medieval fortifications in the Lake Constance area.

The Castell was around the year 1120 by Constance Bishop I. Ulrich von Kyburg-Dillingen (acting 1111-1127) as the first hilltop castle built the Constance bishops in the immediate run-up to the episcopal city of Konstanz. The castle was only a few kilometers southwest of Konstanz on the slope of the ridge on the old road that led from Zurich and Pfyn to Konstanz. Ulrich probably wanted to create a well-fortified seat outside of Constance for himself and his successors in order to be less dependent on the goodwill of Constance's citizens in times of crisis. The fact that two castle chapels with paneled ceilings were built on top of each other also suggests that Castell Castle should actually become a second residence .

Ulrich I's successor, Bishop Ulrich II of Konstanz (reigning 1127–1138), is said to have destroyed the castle as early as 1128. The reason for this was his quarrel with Count Rudolf von Bregenz . Ulrich II wanted to prevent the castle from being able to serve as a support in the event of a possible siege of Constance by Count Rudolf.

The castle must have been rebuilt soon after, as it served as the seat of the ministerial tavern of Castell during the 12th and 13th centuries . These were followed in the second half of the 13th century by different genders until the Bishop of Constance Heinrich III. von Brandis (officiating 1357-1383) had to pledge the castle and the associated farms and properties to the Constance citizen Stephan von Roggwil . It was not until 1453 that Bishop Heinrich IV of Hewen (officiating 1436–1462) was able to cancel the pledge. Castell Castle was destroyed by the Confederates during the Swabian War in 1499 and has been in ruins ever since.

The ruins were probably renovated for the first time in the second half of the 19th century. On this occasion, the west tower was probably built into a lookout tower. The author may have been Baron Max von Scherer, who had extensive construction work carried out on Castell Castle at the end of the 19th century. With Max von Scherer's death in 1901, the castle and palace passed into the possession of the von Stockar family.

The ruins of Castell Castle were extensively archaeologically examined, restored and made accessible to the public in 2007/2008. The project was supported by the Thurgau Office for Archeology, the municipality of Tägerwilen and the von Stockar family.

stairway
Viewing platform
Castle ruins and chateau

literature

Society for Swiss Art History (Ed.): Art guide through Switzerland. Volume 1. Bern 2005, ISBN 3-906131-95-5 .
Harald Derschka : Die Ministeriale des Hochstiftes Konstanz ( Konstanz Working Group for Medieval History: Lectures and Research ; Special Volume 45). Thorbecke, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-7995-6755-0 , pp. 125-139.
Michael Losse, Ilga Koch: Palaces and fortresses on western Lake Constance. Wartberg Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2004, ISBN 3-8313-1448-9 , p. 74.
Wolfgang Kramer, Franz Hofmann (Ed.): Art treasures in Constance, Kreuzlingen and the surrounding area. Michael Greuter Verlag, Hilzingen 2009, ISBN 3-938566-11-6 . P. 119.
Eva Meier: The Chastel castle ruins in Tägerwilen TG . In: Mittelalter - Moyen Age - Medioevo - Temp medieval. Journal of the Swiss Castle Association, 13th year - 2008/2 p. 61ff.
Michael Weithmann: Castles and palaces around Lake Constance. Tyrolia-Verlag, Innsbruck 2008, ISBN 978-3-7022-2922-1 .

Web links

Commons : Schloss Castell - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Castle Castell on "Swisscastles"
Castle world: Castell Castle
Castle Castell on castles in Switzerland
Restoration of the Castell castle ruins on the website of the Office for Archeology of the Canton of Thurgau
Article about the renovation of Castell Castle (PDF; 249 kB) from the Thurgauer Zeitung , on the website of the Office for Archeology of the Canton of Thurgau

and display information about the image

Panorama from the Castell ruin