Rietberg Castle

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View from the northwest
View from the south
Driveway

The Rietberg Castle stands above Pratval (municipality Domleschg GR ) in Domleschg in the Swiss canton of Grisons at the edge of Rietbach-ravine on the border with neighboring community Rodels .

construction

The time when Rietberg Castle was built is not known. The tower as the oldest part probably dates from the first half of the 13th century; the whole complex was built in several stages during the 17th and 18th centuries. A first stage is documented by the year 1601 on the Planta-Jecklin alliance coat of arms on the 1st floor. The vaulted cellar rooms and the living room on the 3rd floor probably date from the same period.

The rectangular tower in the center of the complex is part of the original building stock. The base walls, which are unusually thick by up to 2.5 meters by Graubünden standards, enclose the foundations of an older tower, probably from the 12th century. The larger windows and doors were broken out in post-medieval times. The original high entrance was probably on the north side of the 3rd floor. A massive defense platform made of massive beams was located above the 4th floor . A major reconstruction, in which the characteristic ox eyes were also attached to the top of the tower , took place in the late 17th century. The battlements were walled up on three sides in the 18th century.

In the warm season, the top floor of the tower is the habitat for countless bats of the species Great Mouse- eared Mouse , which cling to the strong beams of the approximately five-meter-high room. The size of the colony varies between fifty and several hundred animals. They can fly in and out through narrow notch windows. In late autumn, the bats leave the tower and spend the winter in an unknown location.

  • Habitat for bats

  • old wall remains under the roof

  • Ox-eye window

The tank cistern in the courtyard probably dates from the Middle Ages . It can be reached from the cellar of the residential wing through an underground passage. The baroque round tower above the cistern dates from the 17th century. In the other buildings, too, remnants of the walls of the original structure are likely to have been preserved; most likely in the outer wall on the north side. The crenellated curtain wall on the south side is modern. As a result of later embankments, nothing can be seen of a neck ditch in the northeast .

  • Inner wall

  • Courtyard with the round tower of the cistern

  • former stables

  • tower

history

Rietberg around 1880

Rietberg was the seat of the Lords of Rietberg, who are mentioned in a document of July 29, 1286 as vassals of the Lords of Sax-Misox and are attested several times in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the course of the 14th century they are mentioned as ministerials to the Bishop of Chur. They owned goods in Domleschg , Schams and Chur .

In the marriage contract with his wife Berta von Rhäzüns, Johann von Rietberg stipulated in 1320 that Berta should own the castle until her death. In 1343, however, he transferred other goods to his wife and handed over mine vesti Rieperg and mine vesti die high Jufalt together with his fiefs in 1348 to the lords of Landenberg, who were related to him. Johann von Rietberg died on September 5, 1349. Hermann von Landenberg could not enforce his inheritance claims and renounced in 1352 in favor of the diocese of Chur .

In January 1354 the bishop issued some documents at the castle. The gentlemen von Rhäzüns and von Lumerins , however, made further claims; the final payment was not made until 1388 after decades of disputes.

Planta's assassination. Drawing by Karl Jauslin
The chimney in the tower where Planta was murdered

The bishop appointed burgraves as administrator; Eglolf is mentioned by Juvalt in 1384. In the period that followed, a long series of pledges caused the bishop to lose his property by constantly increasing the pledge amount. After several changes of ownership, the castle came into the hands of Anton von Travers in 1530, and through his heirs in 1554 to Hercules von Salis (1503–1578). In 1617 the property was divided: one half remained with the Salis, the other half went to Pompejus Planta , the leader of the Catholics, who was related to the Salis . In the confusion of Graubünden , Planta was murdered on February 25, 1621 by Jörg Jenatsch and his like-minded people at Rietberg Castle. The fact was later processed literarily by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer in the novella Jürg Jenatsch . In 1664 Rietberg went to Colonel Christoph von Rosenroll from Thusis for 9,000 guilders , and in 1670 to the von Buol family . In 1758 the Buol-Schauenstein bought the part of the Planta , whereby the previous division was canceled.

Other owners in 1798 were the Prince-Bishop of Chur, Karl Rudolf, who wanted to set up a seminary there. The invasion of the French troops in the Three Leagues prevented the plan. Rietberg was owned by Countess Emilie von Travers in 1802, by Cadonau from Waltensburg in 1803, then by Colonel von Bergamin from Obervaz and again by Countess von Travers in 1822. In the same year Pastor Christian Casparis bought the palace. In 1917 it came to the Rudolf Planta-Casparis family through marriage.

today

General plan

Today Rietberg Castle is owned by several families, all of them descendants of Rudolf Planta-Casparis. The two former tenant houses and the converted horse stables are also inhabited, partly as rental apartments. As co-owners of Rietberg, the Hämmerle-Caviezel family runs an organic farm next to the castle with suckler cows, corn and fruit growing. In earlier times, apples from the estate were sent to the Russian tsar as treasures, individually wrapped in tissue paper in boxes padded with wood wool.

literature

  • Otto P. Clavadetscher , Werner Meyer : The castle book of Graubünden . Zurich 1984, ISBN 3-280-01319-4
  • Fritz Hauswirth: Castles and palaces in Switzerland . Volume 8. Neptun Verlag, Kreuzlingen 1972
  • Werner Meyer: Castles of Switzerland . Volume 3. Silva Verlag, Zurich 1983
  • Anton von Castelmur: The castles and palaces of the Canton of Graubünden , Volume I, Birkhäuser-Verlag, Basel 1940
  • Ludmila Seifert, Leza Dosch: Art guide through Graubünden . Scheidegger & Spiess, Zurich 2008
  • Willy Zeller: Art and culture in Graubünden . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1993

Web links

Commons : Schloss Rietberg  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Otto P. Clavadetscher, Werner Meyer: The Burgenbuch von Graubünden . Zurich 1984
  2. ↑ Information board on site
  3. ^ Rietberg Castle
  4. ↑ Werner Meyer: Castles of Switzerland . Volume 3. Silva Verlag. Zurich, 1983
  5. ↑ Information on site

Coordinates: 46 ° 44 ′ 9 "  N , 9 ° 26 ′ 54"  E ; CH1903:  seven hundred fifty-three thousand five hundred and eighty-seven  /  178037