Roggwil Castle

Roggwil Castle
Creation time :	1200-1800
Castle type :	Baroque country castle
Conservation status:	newly renovated
Place:	Switzerland ; Roggwil TG
Geographical location	47 ° 30 '2 " N , 9 ° 23' 42" E Coordinates: 47 ° 30 '2 " N , 9 ° 23' 42" E ; CH1903: 747 392 / 262,926

The Roggwil Castle is a baroque country castle in the town of Roggwil (Switzerland) between Arbon on Lake Constance and the city of St. Gallen .

history

Around 1200 the Bishop of Constance had a tower built at the current location of Roggwil Castle to oppose the power of the St. Gallen Monastery . The tower became the ancestral seat of the noble family von Roggwil , a Constance family. In 1410 it became a fiefdom of the abbot of St. Gallen. Mötteli von Rappenstein took over the fief. The Studer von Winkelbach came into fiefdom through marriage and inheritance and converted the castle into a baroque country estate in the 17th century.

By marriage, the property came to the Bernhausen zu Hagenwil . In 1736, Captain Gallus Soller bought the property, but after protests by the landed nobility, he had to cede everything back to the abbot of St. Gallen, who used it as a place of rest for monks. In 1806, with the abolition of the monastery, the castle was also sold to goods dealers. The castle then served as a silk mill and warehouse. The Gonzenbach family set up a cheese dairy in the building in 1863. In 1942 the cheese cooperative took over the business. When in 1965 the production facility no longer complied with the necessary hygiene regulations, thought was given to demolishing the property for a new cheese dairy. The neglected castle was sold to the Dubelli family from Freihof, and they handed it over to the Thurgau Heimatschutz in 1971 for a symbolic purchase price of CHF 1.-.

In 1976, the working group “Pro Roggwil Castle” was formed under the direction of Peter Keller, which, thanks to many donations and countless hours of voluntary work by the village population with the participation of the community and the preservation of monuments, renovated the castle for nine years. At the end of the renovation work, the working group received the Swiss Homeland Security Prize in 1985 . The castle has been owned by the “Roggwil Castle Foundation” since 1979.

Structural development and changes

A settlement developed in the vicinity of the tower that took over the name and coat of arms of the noble family and was mentioned in a document as Roggwil. The residential buildings that were added to the right and left of the tower in the 15th century probably go back to the Mötteli von Rappenstein family. The castle chapel was also built at this time (1463). The buildings were renewed and repaired in 1746, and the stucco ceiling was created in a large lounge, which is still preserved today. In the following time the property was used commercially and was hardly maintained any more.

Usage today

Today the castle is run by the “Roggwil Castle Foundation” and serves as a cultural meeting point for all kinds of events. Civil weddings can take place in the castle chapel, and the rooms are also rented out for seminars and other events.

literature

E. Widmer: The castle and the nobles of Roggwil. In: Thurgauer Jahrbuch, Vol. 15 (1939), pp. 68–70.
Heini Giezendanner: Castles and palaces in Thurgau. Frauenfeld 1997, pp. 135-137.

Web links

Commons : Roggwil Castle - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

[1] swisscastles

[2] Roggwil Castle