Dottenwil Castle
The Dottenwil Castle is located in the town of Wittenbach in the canton of St. Gallen . It is located on a hill 1.5 km north of Wittenbach, next to the hamlet of Dottenwil.
history
The Dottenwill estate was first mentioned in 1302, but it wasn't until 1543 that Peter Graf built a small castle on the estate, which his daughter Weibratha inherited together with the estate in 1587. She was married to Konrad Atzenholz, who from then on called himself Atzenholz von Tattenweiler . He expanded the little palace built by his father-in-law by extending it on two sides and adding corner towers. Margaretha , the couple's daughter, married Christoph Buffler and brought the Dottenwil castle and estate with her into the marriage.
Subsequently, ownership changed hands several times at the beginning of the 19th century, before Johann Baptist Blattmann , former governor from Aegeri, acquired the castle for 7,000 guilders in 1807 . He built a large spa house next to the castle and laid out a magnificent garden. The hotel industry and whey health resort enjoyed great popularity and was very well known. However, Blattmann incurred high debts, so that his creditors had the property publicly auctioned in 1816. It was acquired for 12,000 guilders from Caspar Bernet , government councilor of St. Gallen. In 1825 half of the almost new Kurhaus was converted into a stable barn.
In the following period, the castle owners changed again several times through inheritance and sales. On July 18, 1825, the political community of Wittenbach acquired the castle estate in order to set up a home for the poor and old people. Four years later, in 1890, a roof turret with a bell was installed on the ridge of the castle building. On New Year's Day in 1901, the Kurhaus fell victim to a fire, but was subsequently rebuilt in a similar shape, albeit significantly smaller.
Renovation work
Renovation work was carried out in the 1950s and 1960s , during which, among other things, the existing draw well behind the house was torn down and covered up in 1957 . Inside the building, however, interior fittings with paintings and inlays were also lost during this work . Only fragments were saved and found their way into the local museum in 1962. The neo-Gothic chapel was modernized, the old station pictures were loaned to the Oberrindal chapel .
After the old people's home in the castle was closed at the end of 1997, several dozen possible uses for the buildings were examined by 1998. The municipal council finally agreed to make the castle available to a community of interests that wanted to build a museum as well as a meeting and cultural center there. A trial run of two years was initially planned. On New Year's Eve 2001, a loan agreement was signed between the community on the one hand and the community of interests and the Wittenbach Museum Society on the other, which enabled the use that began in 1998 to be continued.
With the start of trial operations, intensive renovation and repair work began in and around the castle. The community renovated the facades and windows, while the community of interests invested the funds it generated in the renovation of the interior. Between 1998 and 2004, an estimated 30,000 hours of voluntary work were invested in Dottenwil Castle.
In 2002 the citizens' assembly approved a loan of approx. 1.1 million Swiss francs for the renovation of those rooms that the museum society was to use to house the village museum. In a first stage, the top floor and the room in the west area of the second floor (classroom) as well as the staircase from the first floor to the top floor were renovated. In a second stage, the workshop and the cat house were renovated. In the future, the shed behind the castle will also be available to accommodate the agricultural equipment.
Today, Dottenwil Castle is operated without exception by volunteers who work without compensation.
Web links
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