Brestenberg Castle (German: ''Schloss Brestenberg'') is a three-story, late Gothic to early Baroque manor house located in the municipality of

Seengen Seengen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Lenzburg (district), Lenzburg in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. Geography Seengen lies in the Seetal, Seetal valley to the north of Lake H ...

, in the canton of

Aargau Aargau ( ; ), more formally the Canton of Aargau (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capital is Aarau. Aargau is one of the most nort ...

, Switzerland. It was built in 1625 by Hans Rudolf von Hallwil and remains adorned with his coat of arms on its southern façade. The property is listed as a cultural heritage site of national significance and has been under

cantonal The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...

protection since 1946. The building has a rectangular plan and a

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other vertical sides ...

, and retains stylistic features from the late Gothic and early Baroque periods. Architectural features include continuous stone window bands, carved

volutes A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the Capital (architecture), capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite order, Composite column capitals. ...

, and a timber roof constructed without interior supports. Interior features include a round-arched door with Gothic framing and an 18th-century

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

ceiling.

History

Brestenberg Castle was built in 1625 by Hans Rudolf von Hallwil and was later inherited or acquired by several prominent local families. In 1844, it was converted into a hydrotherapy clinic by Dr. Adolf Erismann, a military physician during the

Sonderbund War The Sonderbund War (, , ) of November 1847 was a civil war in Switzerland, then still a relatively loose confederacy of cantons. It ensued after seven Catholic cantons formed the ("separate alliance") in 1845 to protect their interests against ...

. Baths and a garden hall were constructed as part of the spa facilities during this period.

Cosima Wagner Francesca Gaetana Cosima Wagner (; 24 December 1837 – 1April 1930) was the daughter of the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt and Franco-German romantic author Marie d'Agoult. She became the second wife of the German composer Richard ...

, wife of composer

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

, reportedly stayed at the clinic in 1858. The castle later operated as a hotel and spa with access to a private beach on

Lake Hallwil __NOTOC__ Lake Hallwil ( German: ''Hallwilersee'') is a lake largely in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, located at . It is the largest lake in Aargau and lies mostly in the districts of Lenzburg and Kulm on the southern edge of the canton. The ...

. After closing in the early 1980s due to lack of investment, it fell into disrepair. In 1984, it was acquired by art collector Bruno Stefanini, who built an underground storage facility beneath the castle for his foundation’s collection. The castle itself remained unused. After Stefanini’s death in 2018, ownership of the property and its underground storage halls passed to his foundation, the Stiftung für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte.

References

External links

Schloss Brestenberg
{{Castles of Aargau Castles in Aargau

History

See also

References

External links