Schloss Thorberg
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Thorberg Castle () is a former
Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called th ...
monastery, or charterhouse, now a prison, located in
Krauchthal Krauchthal is a municipality in the administrative district of Emmental in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Krauchthal was first mentioned around 1108-22 as ''Crouchtal'' and around 1181-82 as ''Crochtal''. Hettiswil village was fi ...
in 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 ...
.


History

Of the castle of the von Thorberg family, first documented in 1175, there remain only fragments of the foundations of the tower. The family died out in 1397 with Peter von Thorberg, the last knight: he bequeathed his many estates to the Carthusians, who converted the castle into a Carthusian monastery (or charterhouse). At the
Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
in 1528 all the assets and property of the monastery passed to the state of Bern. The income from the
Vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...
ei Thorberg was administered by a ''Vogt'' from the Bern patriciate. Until 1798 various care organisations, a prison and a hospital were accommodated in the monastery buildings. In 1805 the former
almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...
, which had provided shelter for the aged poor, was put to use as a reformatory, model school and ancillary (or overflow) lunatic asylum. To these were added in 1807 a further institution for the accommodation of those who "had not really merited imprisonment". The care organisations were replaced on 1 November 1849 by a workhouse or forced labour unit. The opening of the psychiatric clinic at Waldau near Bern made it possible to close the ancillary asylum in 1855.In 1838 the sculptor Joseph Maria Christen died as one of its inmates. In 1893 a newly built cell block was opened as a prison; various other extensions were added during the 20th century, most recently in 1998.


Remains of the monastery buildings

From the Carthusian monastery there remain the women's guesthouse and the chapel, dating from 1510 to 1515, the frescoes of which show the
Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings or Visitation of the Wise Men is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having fo ...
and the Adoration of the Shepherds. A figure of the "
Man of Sorrows Man of Sorrows, a biblical term, is paramount among the prefigurations of the Messiah identified by the Bible in the passages of Isaiah 53 ('' Servant songs'') in the Hebrew Bible. It is also an iconic devotional image that shows Christ, usual ...
" by the sculptor Erhart Küng, master of works at the
Berner Münster Bern Minster () is a Swiss Reformed Church, Swiss Reformed cathedral (or Minster (cathedral), minster) in the Old City of Bern, old city of Bern, Switzerland. Built in the Gothic architecture, Gothic style, its construction started in 1421. Its ...
, formerly belonging to the charterhouse, is today kept in the Historisches Museum Bern.


Other

The construction of the
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
castle is from the time of the ''
Landvogt A ''Vogt'' (plural ''Vögte'') was a title and office in the Old Swiss Confederacy, inherited from the feudal system of the Holy Roman Empire, corresponding to the English '' reeve''. The German term ''Vogtei'' is ultimately a loan from Latin '' ...
''. The old
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
quarry nearby can still be seen, particularly the traces of hand-working and handtools.


Notes


Sources and external links


swisscastles.ch: Schloss Thorberg

Website of Canton Bern: Institutions at Thorberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorberg Castles in the Canton of Bern Carthusian monasteries in Switzerland 1397 establishments in Europe Prisons in Switzerland Buildings and structures in Bern 14th-century establishments in Switzerland Monasteries used as prisons