Bremgarten Castle () is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

in the municipality of Bremgarten of the

canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

History

The first castle at Bremgarten was the ancestral home of the

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

s of Bremgarten, who are first mentioned during the mid-12th century.Swiss castles.ch website
accessed 3 July 2012 The Barons' family church, St. Michaels, was first mentioned in 1275, though it was probably from the 10th or 11th century. The Barons ruled over lands that stretched along the

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is the main tributary of the High Rhine (its discharge even exceeds that of the latter at their confluence) and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to i ...

river at least as far as from Worblaufen to

Kirchlindach Kirchlindach is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History The name ''Lindenacho'' (for Kirchlindach) first appeared in writing on 2 October 1185, when Pope Lucius III affirmed l ...

. In early 1298,

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

and her allied nobles, including the Barons of Bremgarten, fought

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

in the Jammer valley at Donnerbühl. The battle was a Bernese victory and shortly thereafter Bern conquered and burned Bremgarten town and after a short

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

destroyed the castle. By 1306 the three Bremgarten brothers had a ruined town, a ruined castle and mounting debts. They were forced to sell their lands, castle, rights and ferry to the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

commandry In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

of Buchsee (Münchenbuchsee). The commandry rebuilt the ruined town and castle and made it into a residence and headquarters of the commander. During the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

in 1528, the last Commander of the commandery, Peter Englisberg, supported the secularization of the Commandery and was allowed to retire to Bremgarten Castle as a reward. After the death of Peter Englisberg in 1528 the Bernese government sold the land and castle to the conqueror of

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

, Schultheiss Hans Franz Nägeli. He demolished the old castle, except for the

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

and curtain walls, and had a

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

country manor built. After the death of Schultheiss Nägeli in 1579 the castle went to the

Knight banneret A knight banneret, sometimes known simply as banneret, was a medieval knight who led a company of troops during time of war under his own banner (which was square-shaped, in contrast to the tapering standard or the pennon flown by the lower- ...

Ludwig Brüggler who had married Nägeli's second daughter. After the death of Brüggler in 1598, it was bought by Knight banneret Niklaus Kilchberg who gave it to his son, also named Niklaus. It remained with the Kilchberg family until 1727 when it was sold to Marc Elie de Chemilleret of

Biel Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

for 15,000 pounds. In 1743 it went to Gabriel von Wattenwyl who was the nephew of Marc Elie's second wife, Magdalena von Watteville. Fischer von Reichenbach bought it in 1761 for 80,000 pounds, but sold it four years later in 1765 to Albrecht Frisching. Albrecht Frisching was a professor of the Greek language in Bern, had been a member of the Grand Council in 1775 and governor of Landshut, Switzerland, Landshut from 1782 to 1789. By 1780 Frisching completely rebuilt the old castle converting it into a Baroque architecture, baroque summer palace. He had the entrance to the castle expanded and rebuilt. The castle hill was built up and leveled to create a spacious courtyard and gardens around the castle. In 1803, after the Act of Mediation, Albrecht Frisching refused a seat on the Grand Council and instead retired to Bremgarten Castle. The Swiss painter Ricco (painter), Ricco grew up in the castle where his parents Max and Tilli Wassmer threw lavish parties with well-known poets, painters and composers. Hermann Hesse described the atmosphere in the short novel Journey to the East.

References

External links

*
Swiss castles.ch website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bremgarten Castle (Bern) Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern Castles in the Canton of Bern Ruined castles in Switzerland

History

See also

References

External links