Marschlins 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 village of Igis of the

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

of Landquart of the

Canton of Graubünden The Grisons (; ) or Graubünden (),Names include: * ; * Romansh: ** ** ** ** ** **; * ; * ; * . See also other names. more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton of Graubünden, is one of the twenty-six cantons of Switzerland. I ...

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. Marschlins Castle was the childhood home of feminist Meta von Salis.

History

The castle was built in the 13th century, though there may have been 11th- or 12th-century castles on the site and local legend claims it dates back to the Carolingian era. However, the 13th-century castle was probably built for the

bishop of Chur The Bishop of Chur (German: ''Bischof von Chur'') is the ordinary of the Diocese of Chur in Grisons, Switzerland (Latin: ''Dioecesis Curiensis'').Savoyard style, a square castle with corner towers, one of which is enlarged to serve as the

donjon 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 residenc ...

. This style of castle is unique in Graubünden, and how the design was imported is unknown. One theory for a Savoy connection is that between 1233 and 1237 the bishop of Chur was Ulrich IV of Kyburg, whose brother Hartmann IV was married to Margarethe of Savoy. The castle was first mentioned on 12 May 1324 as the death place of the knight Jacob von Marmels. In 1336 the Bishop and Count Ulrich von Montfort were quarreling over the castle, which was decided by the courts in the Bishop's favor. However, in the following year he granted the castle as a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

to Duke

Albert II of Austria Albert II (; 12 December 1298 – 16 August 1358), known as ''the Wise'' () or ''the Lame'' (), a member of the House of Habsburg, was duke of Austria and duke of Styria, Styria from 1330, as well as duke of Carinthia and margrave of Carniola fro ...

. The Austrian duke granted it to several of his knights, until on 3 October 1354 it was granted to the

Counts of Toggenburg The counts of Toggenburg (''Grafen von Toggenburg'') ruled the Toggenburg region of today's canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and adjacent areas during the 13th to 15th centuries. A baronial family of Toggenburg is mentioned in the 11th and 1 ...

in exchange for their support against

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and the

Old Swiss Confederation The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...

. After the death of the last Count of Toggenburg, Frederick VII, in 1436 the fief passed back to the Austrians who granted it to the Brandis family to hold for the Bishop of Chur. In 1442 they used the castle as collateral for a loan from Heinrich von Sigberg. In 1460 the castle was partly destroyed in a fire. Because of the complex ownership (owned by the Bishop of Chur, granted as a fief to the Brandis family, collateral to the Sigberg family), a quarrel broke out between the Brandis and Sigberg families over the cost of repairs. A mediator from the

Three Leagues The Three Leagues, sometimes referred to as Raetia, was the 1471 alliance between the League of God's House, the League of the Ten Jurisdictions, and the Grey League. Its members were all Swiss Associates, associates of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ...

determined that the Brandis family needed to repay the loan and that the repair costs would be shared equally. In 1462 the Duke of Austria acquired the castle and estates from the Bishop of Chur and sold it to Ulrich von Brandis, who began rebuilding. In 1467 the duke expanded the estates attached to Marschlins by adding Malans, Untervaz and Valzeina. In 1498 the Brandis family began trying to sell the castle and estates, but the outbreak of the

Swabian War The Swabian War of 1499 ( (spelling depending on dialect), called or ("Swiss War") in Germany and ("War of the Engadin" in Austria) was the last major armed conflict between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the House of Habsburg. What had begun ...

in the following year broke the deal. After the war, in 1509, they pawned the castle to Ulrich Goeldin and in 1518 the Gugelberg family bought it outright. Around 1600 the moat was drained.

In 1633 the rather dilapidated structure was acquired by Ulysses von Salis, a member of the Salis-Soglio family, who adopted the name Salis-Marschlins. He had made his fortune as a French French ''

Maréchal de camp ''Maréchal de camp'' (sometimes incorrectly translated as field marshal) was a general officer rank used by the French Army until 1848. The rank originated from the older rank of sergeant major general ( French: ''sergent-major général'') ...

''. Two years later he began renovating the castle and turned it from a more military fortification into an elegant house with a french garden. In 1771 the

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

on the chapel was added. From 1771 until 1777 the castle became a philanthropinist school. Later, it was a tobacco factory and a

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

spinning mill. After the French invasion of Switzerland the castle became an army camp. A total of about 10,000 soldiers and 3,000 horse passed through the castle between March 1799 and December 1800. In 1905 the Salis family had the castle rebuilt under the guidance of the architect Eugen Probst. Probst, the controversial founder of the Schweizerischer Burgenverein, made little effort to preserve the historic structures or preserve the medieval appearance of Marschlins. An additional floor was added to the tower and many new windows were added. After the death of Meta von Salis-Marschlins, the last offspring of her branch, the castle was inherited by the Maienfeld branch of the Salis family who sold it in 1934. Today the castle is still privately owned. Since 2020 it is put up for sale, together with its agricultural estate.domusantiqua.ch of 30 August 2020
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Castle site

The castle is located about north-east of Igis village, on a flat plain but about from a steep cliff. The castle is surrounded by two moats which were filled with water during the Middle Ages. Originally the moats were spanned with a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

, which was replaced with a stone bridge in the 17th century. It is rectangular and about in size. Each corner has a round tower with the in diameter south tower being the largest and main tower. The other three towers are in diameter. The oldest residence building in the castle is on the north side. The current

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

like gate is in the center of the western wall, but was originally further south. In the courtyard is a cannon from the Salis regiment from 1676. There are three highly decorated, 17th century furnished rooms in the castle. The ''Marschallstübli'' was built around 1633 and features richly carved

paneling Panelling (or paneling in the United States) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to ...

with inlaid

marquetry Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French ''marqueter'', to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of wood veneer, veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns or designs. The technique may be applied to case furn ...

and a carved wooden

coffer A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, al ...

ed ceiling. The

cocklestove A masonry heater (also called a masonry stove) is a device for warming an interior space through radiant heating, by capturing the heat from periodic burning of fuel (usually wood), and then radiating the heat at a fairly constant temperature fo ...

was built in 1638 by the Pfau workshop and the cabinets decorated with the alliance

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

of Heinrich Hirzel-Yolanda von Salis are from 1674. The ''Offiziersstube'' was completed in 1638 and is paneled in

stone pine The Italian stone pine, botanical name ''Pinus pinea'', also known as the Mediterranean stone pine is a tree from the pine family (''Pinaceae''). The tree is native to the Mediterranean region, occurring in Southern Europe and the Levant. The ...

. The coffered ceiling is decorated with a carved Salis coat of arms. A Steckborn oven from the first half of the 18th century warmed the room. The third room, the ''Goldene Stübli'' in the north-east tower was completed around 1670. The carved paneling is painted with hunting scenes. The coffered roof is decorated with 43 constellations and the four winds. The room is decorated with a collection of

gothic sculpture Gothic sculpture was a sculpture style that flourished in Europe during the Middle Ages, from about mid-12th century to the 16th century,The chronology of the period varies significantly according to the source consulted evolving from Romanesque ar ...

s. The chapel was built in the main tower in 1771. The interior is decorated with paintings of the

Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

from the mid-17th century and with stained glass from the same era.

Gallery

CH-NB - Igis, Schloss Marschlins, Tour, vue partielle - Collection Max van Berchem - EAD-7043.tif, Photograph of the castle around 1900 Marschlins Ansicht Südseite.jpg, Castle seen from the south Marschlins Hauptturm.jpg, Main tower

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marschlins Castle Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden Castles in Graubünden