Grottenstein Castle is a ruined

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Haldenstein Haldenstein is a former municipality in the Plessur Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2021 the former municipality of Haldenstein merged into the municipality of Chur. History Haldenstein is first mentioned in 1149 as ''Lan ...

of the

Canton of Graubünden The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include: *german: (Kanton) Graubünden ; * Romansh: ** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Surmiran, (Cant ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

History

The castle is not mentioned in any records until 1672 when it was a ruin. Its location, only a few hundred meters from both Lichtenstein Castle and

Haldenstein Castle Haldenstein Castle is a castle in the former municipality of Haldenstein (now part of Chur) of the Canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. See also * List of castles in Switzerland This lis ...

indicates that it was probably built for the Lords of Lichtenstein or their relatives the Lords of Haldenstein. It may have been built as an emergency refuge for those families. The last member of the Lichtenstein family, Ulrich died in 1275 and passed his lands to Haldenstein family. A relative Rudolph, was a canon in Chur until 1282, but did not inherit. The male line of the Haldenstein family ended when Ulrich IV died at the

Battle of Näfels The Battle of Näfels was fought on 9 April 1388 between the Canton of Glarus, supported by its allies of the Old Swiss Confederation, and the Duchy of Austria ruled by the House of Habsburg. It was a decisive victory for Glarus, which achieved i ...

in 1388. His lands were inherited by a number of relatives, but by 1424 the

Herrschaft The German term ''Herrschaft'' (plural: ''Herrschaften'') covers a broad semantic field and only the context will tell whether it means, "rule", "power", "dominion", "authority", "territory" or "lordship". In its most abstract sense, it refers ...

of Haldenstein was owned by Ursula von Hohenems and her husband Peter von Grifensee. The castle was first mentioned in 1672 as ''Crottenstein'' (from german: Kröten or toad). In 1742 Nicolin Sererhard mentioned the castle as ''Krottenstein''. From there, it eventually became Grottenstein.

Castle site

The castle is located south of Haldenstein on the slopes of Mount Calanda. It was built by constructing a wall across the entrance to a small cavern. Today about of the thick wall remains. Near the center of the wall, part of the main entrance still remains.

Gallery

Grottenstein_Mauer.jpg, A view of the wall Grottenstein_Mauerinnen.jpg, Interior, ruins of the main doorway Grottenstein_Detail.jpg, Wall with a small window grottenstein_innen.jpg, View from inside the castle

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grottenstein Castle Chur Castles in Graubünden Ruined castles in Switzerland