Spiez 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 Spiez of the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

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 ...

. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

History

According to Elogius Kiburger, the author of the Strättliger Chronicle, in 933 the

King of Burgundy The following is a list of the kings of the two kingdoms of Burgundy, and a number of related political entities devolving from Carolingian machinations over family relations. Kings of the Burgundians * Gebicca (late 4th century – c. 40 ...

Rudolph II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–16 ...

, built the castle. Shortly thereafter, the

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

von Strättligen settled in the castle. Portions of the current castle curtain walls and main tower were built during the 12th century and by the 13th century, the town of Spiez existed outside the castle walls. By 1280 the castle was listed as an Imperial

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 ...

under

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 ...

Richard de Corbières. In 1289 the Freiherr von Strättligen was co-owner of the castle along with a succession of other noble families. In 1308

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Albert I of Habsburg was murdered at Windisch on the Reuss, by his nephew Duke

John Parricida John Parricida () or John the Parricide, also called John of Swabia (''Johann von Schwaben''), (ca. 1290 – 13 December 1312/13) was the son of the Habsburg duke Rudolf II of Austria and Agnes, daughter of King Ottokar II of Bohemia. By kill ...

. As part of their retaliation for the murder, the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

withdrew half of the Spiez fief from Thüring von Brandis and granted the whole fief to Johannes von Strättligen. Thirty years later, in 1338, Johannes sold the castle, town, church, and surrounding villages to Johann II von Bubenberg who was the Schultheiss of

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 ...

. By 1340, the Bubenberg-appointed

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 ...

took orders from Bern but was obligated to raise troops for the Habsburgs. As Bern was de facto independent from their former overlords, the Habsburgs, this created an unstable situation that remained for over 40 years. After the Bernese and

Swiss Confederation 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. Switzerlan ...

victory over the Habsburgs in the

Battle of Sempach The Battle of Sempach was fought on 9 July 1386, between Leopold III, Duke of Austria and the Old Swiss Confederacy. The battle was a decisive Swiss victory in which Duke Leopold and numerous Austrian nobles died. The victory helped turn the lo ...

in 1386, the Habsburgs gave up their land claims west of 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 ...

, which included Spiez. The castle and surrounding land remained with the Bubenberg family until their extinction in 1506 when it was acquired by Ludwig von Diesbach. Von Diesbach held it for ten years before Ludwig von Erlach acquired the castle and lands. The von Erlach family ruled the town and villages until the 1798 French invasion. After the invasion and the creation of the

Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (; ; ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...

, the von Erlach family lost their land rights and jurisdiction over the village but retained ownership of the castle until 1875. The old castle was expanded in several stages during the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

but little is known about the specific dates or what was changed. In 1600 the great hall and the northern buildings were expanded and renovated. During the 17th and 18th centuries the south "New Castle" was built and then expanded and redecorated in the late

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 ...

style. The castle was surrounded by gardens, vineyards, and forests. After 1875, the castle passed through several owners until a foundation bought the castle and associated church. The gardens are now open to the public and the castle rooms are used for conferences, concerts, exhibitions, and other events.

Construction

The massive square

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 ...

was built around 1200. The lower walls are about thick though they become thinner higher up. At the bottom it is .Burgenwelt.de website-Spiez castle
accessed 22 November 2013 The tower increased in height several times over the following centuries before the final construction phase in 1600. In this final phase the tower was raised and crowned with

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 ...

that brought its total height to .Swiss castles.ch
accessed 22 November 2013 The keep was originally surrounded by several free-standing wooden buildings. Over the following centuries, these buildings were replaced with a stone curtain wall and a ring of two concentric ditches. A gatehouse was built adjacent to the keep, which opened toward the west. Around 1300 a residence wing was added north of the keep. It was probably lower at that time than it is today and was connected to the keep by a wooden gallery. During the second half of the 13th century, several

tournaments A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

must have been held around the castle because the visiting knights carved

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

into the plaster of the main chimney. In the 14th century an additional north wing was added onto the residence wing. From the 15th to the 18th century, the castle was gradually renovated to its present appearance. The gallery was expanded, and another story was added to the residence hall. The ''Trüel'' was added to the northwest side of the keep in the 16th century. Then, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Baroque "New Castle" was built on the south side of the gatehouse.

References

External links

Website of Spiez Castle

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiez Castle Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern Castles in the Canton of Bern Spiez

History

Construction

See also

References

External links