Stadtmuseum Rapperswil-Jona is a museum of

local history Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history. Local history is not merely national history writ small bu ...

and

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

in Rapperswil, canton of St. Gallen in

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 ...

Stadtmuseum Rapperswil - Herrenberg 2015-11-07 15-38-33

Rapperswil - Herrenberg - Frohberg IMG 5160

Location

The museum is situated in three

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

buildings, remains of a former castle as part of the town walls of Rapperswil, as of today in the so-called ''Breny house'', a

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') 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 c ...

, and in the ''Breny tower'' and an intermediate section that was a battlement of the town wall at ''Herrenberg'' hill. The buildings are situated between Schloss Rapperswil, Stadtpfarrkirche Rapperswil and ''Engelplatz'' square.

Breny house and Breny tower

Breny house and Breny tower are part of the remains of the northeastern town walls of the medieval city of Rapperswil. The buildings date back to early 13th century AD, when the lords of Russikon (Russinger) built a

residential tower A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdictio ...

respectively a small

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 ...

as servants (Ministerials) of the

Counts of Rapperswil The House of Rapperswil respectively Counts of Rapperswil (''Grafen von Rapperwil'' since 1233, before ''Lords'') ruled the upper ''Zürichsee'' and ''Seedamm'' region around Rapperswil and parts of, as of today, Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, Gl ...

. In its present form, it was built in 1492 by the knight Hans of Landenberg from the Töss Valley replacing the former seat of the lords of Russikon. The Landenberg family officiated in Rapperswil as mayors and councils to 1530. Subsequent occupants were from 1530 to 1660 the Göldlin family, then the Good family, and from 1758 the Breny family. The former castle with its high residential tower at the so-called ''Herrenberg'' (" castle hill") marked in the 16th century the urban expansion of the

city to the northeast. The buildings were part of the northeasterly town walls at the bay of

Kempraten Kempraten-Lenggis is a village (''Kirchdorf'') within the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona, ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The remains of the Gallo-Roman settlement ''Centum Prata'' are one ...

Lake Zürich __NOTOC__ Lake Zurich ( Swiss German/Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used to ...

shore heading to the so-called ''Herrenbergtor'' gate (broken in 1848).Kulturbaukasten Rapperswil-Jona, 36 Museen ohne Dach
/ref> The largely conserved residential facilities date back to the 16th century when the castle was owned by Thuring Göldli. The

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

hall with beamed ceiling and flower garlands, like the other rooms in the initial stage of construction, is largely preserved. The living room is decorated with late Gothic and partly overpainted wall painting among them the

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...

of the Landenberg and Hünenberg families (as of 1492). The Breny room ("Breny-Stube") and the Landenberg room (as of 1503) are in their original condition. The very first roses in Rapperswil blossom at the Breny tower and at the Stadtpfarrkirche Rapperswil next to the Schloss Rapperswil because their medieval sandstone walls are exposed to the sun all through the year.

Museum of local history and art

History

Under the patronage of the transport association (''Verkehrsverein'')

Rapperswil-Jona Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, the municipality includes Bollingen, Bussk ...

, the museum was established in 1943 as "Heimatmuseum lokaler Geschichte und Kunst" (museum of local history and art). As a legacy of the sisters Paulina and Henrika Breny, the buildings, as of today commonly called "Breny-Haus" and "Breny-Turm", are situated at former ''Obere Halsgasse'', and administrated by the city of Rapperswil. In 2008, some Rapperswil residents petitioned local authorities to evict the Polish Museum from its home in the

Rapperswil Castle Rapperswil Castle ( Swiss German: ''Schloss Rapperswil'') is a castle, built in the early 13th century by the House of Rapperswil, in the formerly independent city of Rapperswil. The castle is located on the eastern '' Zürichsees western '' ...

, as two historical museum locations (''Stadtmuseum'' and Polish Museum) estimated to be too expensive. The Polish Museum is conducting a petition campaign to retain the Museum in the castle; ''Stadtmuseum'' will be kept respectively in 2010/11 renewed at its actual location.November 12, 2009
Rapperswil-Jona official website: ''Das geplante neue Stadtmuseum baut auf neuem Selbstverständnis''

Activities

In December 2009, the project "Janus" presented the results of an evaluation for public vote by the citizens of Rapperswil-Jona. The city museum will be renewed from January 2010 to autumn 2011, and therefore will be closed for visitors. Its historical intermediate section between Breny house and Breny tower will probably replaced by a purposive construction integrated into the historic street-scape between ''Stadtpfarrkirche'' (parish church) and ''Engelplatz'' square. This new building serves both, as an exhibition space as well as connection between the two historical museum buildings. The formative north side of the town walls will be kept as it is. Investment and operating costs of around 5.6 million Swiss francs will be borne equally between local community and political community Rapperswil-Jona. Simultaneously with the realization of the project, the accumulated maintenance work on the facades, windows and roofs of the historic buildings and the town wall will be done.Contest Stadtmuseum Rapperswil

Sights

Along with temporary exhibits, main sights are the prehistoric and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

archaeological finds, particularly from the extensive excavations at

, the former Roman ''vicus Centum Prata''. Other exhibits are medieval coat of arms of the city of Rapperswil, a goblet of Countess Elizabeth of Rapperswil, the late Gothic living hall and religious goldsmiths, including the mitre, the crosier, particulate monstrance from the monastery treasury of Premonstratensian Rüti Abbey. The intermediate section (as of October 2009) is home to the Breny and Göldli rooms with antique portraits from the Renaissance, the Curti room of Rapperswil silk merchants from the 15th century and the Greith room. In the Breny tower there are a scale model of the city of Rapperswil showing the city as it was in 1800, further information on history and the city fortifications as well as examples of medieval weapons, pharmacy, shoe-making and kiln ceramics from Rapperswil. The previous conventional presentation of the collection objects was replaced in 2012/12 by a multimedia "history experience", i.e., by visual and audible interaction with the visitors.

Gallery

Rapperswil - Stadtmuseum - Zwischentrakt IMG 5471 ShiftN.jpg, The former intermediate section between Breny tower and Breny house, a remain of the medieval town wall Rapperswil - Stadtmuseum IMG 1705.JPG, interior of the Breny tower Rapperswil - Breny-Turm - Wappenschilder.jpg, Coats of arms in the entrance hall: Lords of Russikon, of Landenberg, Göldlin and Breny Kempraten - gallo-römische Fundstücke.jpg, Gallo-Roman relicts from ''Centum Prata'' (

) Rapperswil - Elisabeth von Rapperswil - Trinkschale.jpg, Drinking cup estimated to belong to Countess

Elisabeth von Rapperswil Elisabeth von Rapperswil (also ''von Habsburg-Laufenburg'', ''von Homberg''; c.1251/1261 – 1309) was the last countess of the House of Rapperswil, and secured by her second marriage the female line of the Counts of Rapperswil and the exte ...

(around 1300) Rapperswil - Stadtsiegel.jpg, City seal of Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, showing Rapperswil and

Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden is a wooden pedestrian bridge between the city of Rapperswil and the village of Hurden crossing the upper Lake Zürich (''Obersee'') in Switzerland. The prehistoric timber piles discovered to the west of the Seedamm ...

(1361) Kloster Rüti - Stadtmuseum Rapperswil - Krummstab und Mitra.jpg, Treasury of the Rüti Abbey Rapperswil - Stadtmuseum - Elisabeth Matsch - Reliquiar.jpg, Reliquiar estimated to be given by Elisabeth von Mätsch, wife of Count Friedrich VII of Toggenburg Maria Franziska Diogg (1793-1855), Tochter des Malers, Öl auf Leinwand (doubliert), um 1814 - Felix Maria Diogg - Stadtmuseum Rapperswil 2013-04-06 15-11-35 (P7700).JPG, Maria Franziska Diogg (1793-1855), daughter of

Felix Maria Diogg Felix Maria Diogg (1 July 1762 – 19 February 1834) was a Swiss painter. Born in Andermatt, as an adult he made Rapperswil his home. Diogg is considered the most important Swiss Classicism portraitist. Life and work Born as the son of Kathari ...

, oil on canvas around 1814

Cultural heritage

The building is listed in the

Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...

as a ''Class B'' object of regional importance.

Literature

* Peter Röllin: ''Kulturbaukasten Rapperswil-Jona''. Rapperswil-Jona 2005.

References

External links

Stadtmuseum Rapperswil-Jona website

{{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Switzerland History museums in Switzerland Local museums Buildings and structures in Rapperswil-Jona Tourist attractions in Rapperswil-Jona Castles in the canton of St. Gallen Museums established in 1943 1943 establishments in Switzerland Museums in the canton of St. Gallen Cultural property of regional significance in the canton of St. Gallen