Baldern Castle (german: italic=yes, Burg Baldern or ''Burgstelle Baldern'') is a former

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 ...

in the municipality of Stallikon and the

canton of Zürich The canton of Zürich (german: Kanton Zürich ; rm, Chantun Turitg; french: Canton de Zurich; it, Canton Zurigo) is a Swiss canton in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton in the ...

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 ...

. The remains of the castle comprise a set of

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

, situated on the Albis ridge at some above sea level and about south of the summit of

Uetliberg __NOTOC__ The Uetliberg (also known as Üetliberg) is a mountain in the Swiss plateau, part of the Albis chain, rising to . The mountain offers a panoramic view of the entire city of Zürich (to the northeast of its summit) and the Lake of Zur ...

. The earthworks are obscured by the site's woodland nature. A legend recorded ca. 1510 suggests that the castle was built by

Ludwig the German Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the Pi ...

, the first king of

East Francia East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided t ...

, in the 9th century, but there is no strong evidence for this. The castle is known to have been owned by the

Counts of Lenzburg The Counts of Lenzburg (also Counts of Baden by the early 12th century) were a comital family in the Duchy of Swabia in the 11th and 12th centuries, controlling substantial portions of the '' pagi'' of Aargau and Zürichgau. After the extinction ...

in the 12th century. There have been no significant archeological investigations of the site, and the date and reason it was abandoned is unknown. The site of the castle lies about walk north of the upper station of the

Adliswil-Felsenegg cable car The Adliswil-Felsenegg cable car (LAF; german: Luftseilbahn Adliswil-Felsenegg or ) is a cable car in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. The lower station is located in Adliswil in the Sihl Valley, whilst the upper station is located on the F ...

Felsenegg Felsenegg (el. ) is a vantage point in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. Geography Felsenegg is located some to the southwest of the city of Zürich on the Albis chain, between the municipalities of Stallikon and Adliswil. The hilltop ...

. The panoramic footpath from Uetliberg to Felsenegg passes through the old castle site.

Gallery

File:Baldern02.JPG, The approach to the castle from the south File:Burg Baldern 2017-05-23 16.32.11.jpg, The interior of the castle site File:Baldern01.JPG, Plaque marking site

References

Castles in the canton of Zürich {{Zurich-geo-stub

Gallery

See also

References