Altendorf Castle (

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...

: ''Ruine Altendorf'') was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

hill castle A hill castle or mountain castle is a castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain. It is a term derived from the German ''Höhenburg'' used in categorising castle sites by their topographical location. Hill castles a ...

in the municipality of Altendorf in the

canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz (german: Kanton Schwyz rm, Chantun Sviz; french: Canton de Schwytz; it, Canton Svitto) is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred o ...

. On the

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cau ...

of the round castle

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common typ ...

stands the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

of the chapel of St. Johann.

Geography

The ruins respectively a chapel built at the castle's former location is situated on the western lake shore of Obersee on a ridge towards the mountain called Etzel in Altendorf. The castle overlooked the Linth plain and the upper part of the

Lake Zurich __NOTOC__ Lake Zurich (Swiss German/ Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used t ...

. The village of Lachen is situated below the hill on the shore of the lake, although the castle site is on the ground of the municipality of Altendorf. The castle site is accessible by car, parking lots are nearby. Hiking trails lead from the boat landing Altendorf Seestatt and from the railway station Lachen to the castle site.

History

"Rahprehteswilare" is mentioned for the first time in a document of emperor

Otto II Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Ital ...

, in which goods of the

Einsiedeln Abbey Einsiedeln Abbey (german: Kloster Einsiedeln) is a Benedictine Catholic monastery in the village of Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, in recognition of Meinrad of Einsiedeln, a ...

in the location of today's Altendorf were confirmed on 14 August 972. ''Rahprehteswilare'' means ''hamlet'' or ''village of Raprecht'', named after a probably Alemanni nobleman in the 7th or 8th century AD. The

House_of_Rapperswil The House of Rapperswil respectively Counts of Rapperswil (''Grafen von Rapperwil'' since 1233, before ''Lords'') ruled the upper ''Zürichsee'' and ''Seedamm'' region around Rapperswil and parts of, as of today, Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, Gl ...

had estates in central and eastern Switzerland, more precisely around the upper Lake Zurich and the later silt up

Lake Tuggen A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

, in the

Zürcher Oberland The Zürcher Oberland ("Zurich highlands") in Switzerland, is the hilly south-eastern part of the canton of Zurich, bordering on the Toggenburg, including the districts of Uster, Hinwil, Pfäffikon as well as the Töss Valley as far as the di ...

and in the

Glattal The Glatt Valley (German: ''Glattal'' or ''Glatttal'') is a region and a river valley in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. Geography The Glatt is a tributary to the Rhine in the Zürcher Unterland area of the canton of Zurich. It is lo ...

. The

Counts of Rapperswil The House of Rapperswil respectively Counts of Rapperswil (''Grafen von Rapperwil'' since 1233, before ''Lords'') ruled the upper ''Zürichsee'' and ''Seedamm'' region around Rapperswil and parts of, as of today, Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, G ...

acted as ''

Vögte During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

'' of the

since the 11th century AD, as therefore the castle may have been built as seat of the ''Vogt'', in addition to the nearby later fortification in Pfäffikon, that was owned by the Einsiedeln abbey – the exact date of construction is unknown. The establishment of the present

Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...

was founden around 1200 AD. It became the new seat of the House of Rapperswil and the village with the church of St. Michael was renamed "vetus villa Rapperswile" (literally: old town Rapperswil) and the castle was called "die vestize der alten Rapreswile" (literally: the fortress of the old House of Rapperswil). To the middle of the 15th century AD, for the first time the name "zu dem alten Dorfe" (literally: to the old village) was mentioned from which the name "Altendorf" (literally: old village) arose. When the castle was completed is unknown. From the previously known, patchy history of the House of Rapperswil only conjectures may done: Certainly it was built well before the year 1200 AD, maybe in 972 or earlier, from which the aforementioned document dates. However, the castle was destroyed along with the

Rapperswil Castle Rapperswil Castle (Swiss German: ''Schloss Rapperswil'') is a castle, built in the early 13th century by the House of Rapperswil, in the formerly independent city of Rapperswil. The castle is located on the eastern ''Zürichsees western ''Obers ...

Rudolf Brun Rudolf Brun (1290s – 17 September 1360) was the leader of the Zürich guilds' revolution of 1336, and the city's first independent mayor. Since 1234, Zürich had been governed by an aristocratic council. One third of the council's members w ...

's troops in 1350, as an attempted coup called 'Mordnacht von Zürich' (literally: Murder night of Zurich) failed. It was an upheaval of the aristocratic opposition which attempted to reverse the

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

order of the city of Zurich introduced by Brun. A central person was Count Johann II of the House of Habsburg-Laufenburg, who wanted to revenge his

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

's death at the

Battle of Grynau The Battle of Grynau in 1337 was the concluding battle in the Grynau war between the Old Swiss Confederacy and its Imperial city Zurich against a noble army under the leadership of Count Johann I (Habsburg-Laufenburg). The result was a Zurich vict ...

. The destruction of Alt-Rapperswil followed a

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterize ...

of the castle in September 1350, in which allied troops from

Constance Constance may refer to: Places *Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English * Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada * Constance, Kentucky * Constance, Minnesota * Constance (Portugal) *Mount Constance, Washington State People * Consta ...

and

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

took part in addition to the troops of Zurich. According to the chronicle, the 30 inhabitants were given

safe conduct Safe conduct, safe passage, or letters of transit, is the situation in time of international conflict or war where one state, a party to such conflict, issues to a person (usually an enemy state's subject) a pass or document to allow the enemy ...

after five days of siege and the walls were then brought down by undermining, which was confirmed by the excavations in 1972. Thus, Rapperswil was rebuilt by Albrecht II, Duke of Austria in 1352/54. Of Alt Rapperswil only the chapel was rebuilt. Contrary to the records of the chronicler

Aegidius Tschudi Aegidius (or Giles or Glig) Tschudi (5 February 150528 February 1572) was a Swiss statesman and historian, an eminent member of the Tschudi family of Glarus, Switzerland. His best known work is the Chronicon Helveticum, a history of the early ...

from the 16th century, it had also been destroyed, which was proven by the excavations in 1972. Habsburg influence in the

March District March District is a district in Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an e ...

was lost in 1386 after the

Battle of Sempach The Battle of Sempach was fought on 9 July 1386, between Leopold III, Duke of Austria and the Old Swiss Confederacy. The battle was a decisive Swiss victory in which Duke Leopold and numerous Austrian nobles died. The victory helped turn the loo ...

, and the property and its rights passed over to the city of Zurich.

Castle

The exact location of Alt-Rapperswil was long unknown. It could only be confirmed during the renovation of the chapel of St. Johann when soundings revealed an extensive medieval fortification. The

ridge castle A ridge castle (german: Kammburg) was a medieval fortification built on a ridge or the crest of mountain or hill chain.Friedrich-Wilhelm Krahe: ''Burgen des deutschen Mittelalters. Grundriss-Lexikon''. Flechsig, Würzburg 2000, , p. 18. It was one ...

occupied an area of 100 × 35 metres on the ridge. The levelled

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

, up to eight metres deep on the north and east sides, and the

neck ditch A neck ditch (german: Halsgraben), sometimes called a throat ditch,
at www.roadstoruins.com. Accessed on 3 Jan 2012. is a dry

on the west side are still faintly visible. The chapel of St. Johann and the Sigristenhaus (Sacristan's House) are located on the former castle grounds. The choir of the Chapel of St. John, which is seven-eighths closed, stands on an approximately 70 cm wide foundation of a former

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and ful ...

of the castle. It is assumed that the chapel was modelled on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

to commemorate the

crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

and

pilgrimages A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

of the House of Rapperswil, because during the excavations a foundation was found which could be the remains of an altar pedestal. The rapid reconstruction of the chapel after its destruction in 1350 is evidenced by a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

double window, as can also be found in other buildings from the 1370s in the region. Under the nave of the present chapel of St. John, a wall segment running parallel to the ridge was found with two door sills embedded in it. To the east of the choir of the present chapel on a terrace seven metres below, a square foundation of 3.4 metres edge length was found, surrounded by a fire layer in which remains of stove tiles were found. A one and a half metre thick curtain wall must have surrounded the site. The chapel and the ruined remains are a Swiss heritage site of national significance as ''Class A'' objects of national importance.

Literature

Roger Sablonier Roger Sablonier (16 April 1943 – 8 June 2010) was a Swiss historian and writer of non-fiction publications, and Emeritus (Prof. Dr.) of the faculty of the University of Zürich. Biography Born in Uster on 16 April 1941 as the son of Mary Ida ...

: ''Gründungszeit ohne Eidgenossen: Politik und Gesellschaft in der Innerschweiz um 1300''. hier + jetzt, Baden 2008, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alt Rapperswil Castle Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Schwyz Castles in the canton of Schwyz House of Rapperswil Ruined castles in Switzerland

Geography

History

Castle

See also

Literature

References