Bremgarten Castle (german: Schloss Bremgarten) is a

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 Bremgarten of the

canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

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 ...

. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

History

The first castle at Bremgarten was the ancestral home of the

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

s of Bremgarten, who are first mentioned during the mid-12th century.Swiss castles.ch website
accessed 3 July 2012 The Barons' family church, St. Michaels, was first mentioned in 1275, though it was probably from the 10th or 11th century. The Barons ruled over lands that stretched along the

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descend ...

river at least as far as from

Worblaufen Ittigen is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The municipality was formed in 1983 when it and Ostermundigen were separated from territory once part of Bolligen. History Its ...

Kirchlindach Kirchlindach is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History The name ''Lindenacho'' (for Kirchlindach) first appeared in writing on 2 October 1185, when Pope Lucius III affirmed ...

. In early 1298,

Fribourg , neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne , twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France) , website = www.ville-fribourg.ch , Location of , Location of () () o ...

and her allied nobles, including the Barons of Bremgarten, fought

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

in the Jammer valley at Donnerbühl. The battle was a Bernese victory and shortly thereafter Bern conquered and burned Bremgarten town and after a short

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

destroyed the castle. By 1306 the three Bremgarten brothers had a ruined town, a ruined castle and mounting debts. They were forced to sell their lands, castle, rights and ferry to the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

commandry In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

of Buchsee (Münchenbuchsee). The commandry rebuilt the ruined town and castle and made it into a residence and headquarters of the commander. During the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in 1528, the last Commander of the commandery, Peter Englisberg, supported the secularization of the Commandery and was allowed to retire to Bremgarten Castle as a reward. After the death of Peter Englisberg in 1528 the Bernese government sold the land and castle to the conqueror of

Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

, Schultheiss Hans Franz Nägeli. He demolished the old castle, except for the

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 curtain walls, and had a

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

country manor built. After the death of Schultheiss Nägeli in 1579 the castle went to the

Knight banneret A knight banneret, sometimes known simply as banneret, was a medieval knight ("a commoner of rank") who led a company of troops during time of war under his own banner (which was square-shaped, in contrast to the tapering standard or the penn ...

Ludwig Brüggler who had married Nägeli's second daughter. After the death of Brüggler in 1598, it was bought by Knight banneret Niklaus Kilchberg who gave it to his son, also named Niklaus. It remained with the Kilchberg family until 1727 when it was sold to Marc Elie de Chemilleret of

Biel , french: Biennois(e) , neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin , twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany) B ...

for 15,000 pounds. In 1743 it went to Gabriel von Wattenwyl who was the nephew of Marc Elie's second wife, Magdalena von Watteville. Fischer von Reichenbach bought it in 1761 for 80,000 pounds, but sold it four years later in 1765 to Albrecht Frisching. Albrecht Frisching was a professor of the

Greek language Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Al ...

in Bern, had been a member of the Grand Council in 1775 and governor of

Landshut Landshut (; bar, Landshuad) is a town in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also t ...

from 1782 to 1789. By 1780 Frisching completely rebuilt the old castle converting it into a

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

summer palace. He had the entrance to the castle expanded and rebuilt. The castle hill was built up and leveled to create a spacious courtyard and gardens around the castle. In 1803, after the

Act of Mediation The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion ...

, Albrecht Frisching refused a seat on the Grand Council and instead retired to Bremgarten Castle. The Swiss painter Ricco grew up in the castle where his parents Max and Tilli Wassmer threw lavish parties with well-known poets, painters and composers.

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...

described the atmosphere in the

short novel A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) fact ...

Journey to the East ''Journey to the East'' is a short novel by German author Hermann Hesse. It was first published in German in 1932 as ''Die Morgenlandfahrt''. This novel came directly after his biggest international success, ''Narcissus and Goldmund''. Plot su ...

References

External links

*
Swiss castles.ch website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bremgarten Castle (Bern) Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern Castles in the Canton of Bern Ruined castles in Switzerland

History

See also

References

External links