Brandis Castle is the

ruin Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

of a

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

from the 13th century. It stands in the Swiss

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Lützelflüh Lützelflüh is a municipality in the administrative district of Emmental in the Swiss canton of Bern. History Lützelflüh is first mentioned in 1225 as ''Lucelfluo''. The area around Lützelflüh was probably inhabited during the Roman era. ...

in the Canton of Bern above the village Lützelflüh on a rocky outcrop. Today, only the ruins and the moat are still visible.

History

Brandis castle was built in 1230 as the headquarters of the Freiherr of Brandis. The first known member of the family was Konrad (1239–57). His grandson, Thüring (1280-1324), was involved in the murder of King Albert I by the king's nephew

John Parricida Portrait of John Parricida by Anton Boys in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna">Kunsthistorisches_Museum.html" ;"title="Anton Boys in the Kunsthistorisches Museum">Anton Boys in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna John Parricida (german: Johann ...

in 1308. For this involvement, in 1313 Thüring lost the family estates in

Spiez Spiez is a town and municipality on the shore of Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss canton of Bern. It is part of the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district. Besides the town of Spiez, the municipality also includes ...

in the

Berner Oberland The Bernese Oberland ( en, Bernese Highlands, german: Berner Oberland; gsw, Bärner Oberland; french: Oberland bernois), the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern, is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which contex ...

. However, he was supported by Bern and the

Counts of Kyburg The Kyburg family (; ; also Kiburg) was a noble family of ''grafen'' (counts) in the Duchy of Swabia, a cadet line of the counts of Dillingen, who in the late 12th and early 13th centuries ruled the County of Kyburg, corresponding to much of wha ...

and retained the Lützelflüh lands. The castle from the 13th century was from where there was control of their possessions in the upper and middle

Emmental The Emmental ( en, Emme Valley) is a valley in west-central Switzerland, forming part of the canton of Bern. It is a hilly landscape comprising the basins of the rivers Emme (river), Emme and Ilfis (river), Ilfis. The region is mostly devoted to ...

. In 1337 the Freiherr of Brandis received Bernese citizenship. By the 15th century, the family owned lands in what is now eastern Switzerland and

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...

. In 1437 Wolfhart V von Brandis inherited

Marschlins Castle Marschlins Castle is a castle in the village of Igis of the municipality of Landquart of the Canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. Marschlins Castle was the childhood home of feminist Meta ...

and the

Maienfeld Maienfeld ( rm, Maiavilla) is a municipality in the Landquart Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It is a tourist destination in the Alps, both because of the local wine and because it was the setting of the story ''Heidi''. History ...

Herrschaft The German term ''Herrschaft'' (plural: ''Herrschaften'') covers a broad semantic field and only the context will tell whether it means, "rule", "power", "dominion", "authority", "territory" or "lordship". In its most abstract sense, it refers ...

'' in Graubünden through his wife Verena von Werdenberg-Bludenz. He began selling off the western Brandis lands. In 1455 the family sold the lordship of Brandis in Bern to the Lords of Scharnachthal. Then there were several changes of ownership until the castle, in 1607, came into the possession of the city Bern and a Bernese bailiff was appointed and took up residence in the castle. During the 1798 French invasion, the castle was burned and almost totally destroyed. It was abandoned and continued to fall into ruin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandis fort (ruined) Castles in the Canton of Bern

History

See also

References