Laupen Castle

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Laupen Castle from the west
Laupen Castle (2011)

The Laupen Castle is a castle in Laupen in the Swiss canton of Bern . As a dominant landmark at the confluence of the Sense and Saane rivers , the medieval fortification from the 12th century is a monument of national importance.

history

Laupen Castle, engraving by Johann Ludwig Nöthiger (1744)

In the 13th century Spielball Castle is on the border between the Counts of Kyburg and Habsburg fighting for hegemony on the one hand and the Counts of Savoy on the other, and sees numerous violent and non-violent changes of hand. In 1295 and 1309/10 the king visited the castle and pledged it. In 1324, the up-and-coming city ​​of Bern redeemed the pledge and established the first bailiwick here. A stop should be put to Bern's expansion into the landscape as a growing territorial power. During the Laupenkrieg , an alliance of the Burgundian , Savoyard and Habsburg nobility and the city of Freiburg im Üechtland decided to push back Bern and in 1339 was the first to besiege Laupen. The fortress defied the attackers for twelve days. With the support of the central Swiss towns, Bern succeeded in destroying the nobility. The office building was rebuilt in the years after 1648 and the Käfigturm in the years 1660 to 1662. The courtroom is located on the second floor of the office building, which served the Laupen court district at that time until it was merged to form the Bern-Laupen district. There are empty prison cells in the northeast wing. Until 2009, the castle contained the land registry as well as the debt collection and bankruptcy office of the Laupen district. Since 2012 the castle has been owned by the Schloss Stiftung, which was founded in the same year and takes care of the maintenance and operation of the castle and its surroundings.

construction

Cage Tower and Crescent Wall (2009)
Inner courtyard (2009)

Laupen is an exposed medieval defense system on a rock spur, the strength of which was based on changes in the terrain, the neck ditch as a separation from the adjoining mountain, and on fortifications, namely the main defense tower and elliptical massive ring wall (2.5-3 m thick, 10-12 m high) . Important parts of this have been preserved in the form of splendid ashlar masonry at the old height. The south, west and north sides are largely intact, while the tower and east side only exist as a base. The most valuable part of the complex is the palas attached to the curtain wall , whose three pointed arch-shaped double windows illuminate the massive knight's hall . This is one of the best preserved castle halls in Switzerland, built around 1315, with an intact chimney system, mighty beamed ceiling and exposed brickwork. In the former residential floor under a huge hipped roof of 1395. In the courtyard are various loopholes and battlements types read old military facilities. West terrace, Rondenweg and east bastion offer promising perspectives; the castle courtyard is a frequently visited impressive enclosed space. The New Palace, which was built in the administrative building, is a late Gothic building with a stair tower at the side and a curved hood. The interior furnishings of the 17th and 18th centuries have been preserved. Sections of the Romanesque keep outside wall in the cafeteria that have never been touched are among the singular components in the Swiss landscape of monuments.

literature

  • Heinrich Türler: The Laupen Castle . In: Friends of patriotic history (ed.): New Berner Taschenbuch . tape 30 . Bern 1925, p. 161–190 , doi : 10.5169 / seals-129666 .
  • Society for Swiss Art History (Ed.): Art guide through Switzerland . tape 3 . Bern 2006.

See also

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Art Guide 3, p. 418.

Coordinates: 46 ° 54 '7.9 "  N , 7 ° 14' 30.2"  E ; CH1903:  five hundred and eighty-four thousand nine hundred and ninety-six  /  194,584