The Rudenz Castle is a fortified tower in

Flüelen Flüelen is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. History Flüelen is first mentioned in 1266 as ''Vluolon''. Flüelen formed an important transshipment point on Switzerland's transport system for many centuries, and at least sin ...

, a municipality in the canton of

Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Islan ...

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 ...

History

The tower was built in the early 13th century. It protected the Gotthard road (Gotthardstrasse) and housed an Imperial customs post. In the 14th century, the right to collect Imperial customs was owned by the Lords of

Attinghausen Attinghausen is a village and a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. History Attinghausen is first mentioned in 1240 as ''Attingenhusen'' by the HDS. Geography Attinghausen has an area, , of . Of this area, 35.3% is used for agricul ...

. The first known owner of the tower was Baron Johann von Attinghausen. After Baron Johann von Attinghausen's death around 1360, ownership passed to the

Haslital The Oberhasli is a historical '' Landvogtei'' or ''Talschaft'' in the Bernese Highlands, Switzerland, bordering on the cantons of Obwalden (OW), Nidwalden (NW), Uri (UR) and Wallis (VS). From 1833 to 2009, Oberhasli was incorporated as the ...

Knight of Rudenz (by virtue of marriage). The tower thus came to be known as the Castle of Rudenz. The Knights of Rudenz were in the service of the

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

Brienz Brienz ( , , ) is a village and municipality on the northern shore of Lake Brienz, at the foot of the Brienzer Rothorn mountain, and in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. Besides the village of Brienz, the municipality includes the sett ...

Ringgenberg Ringgenberg (sometimes also written as ''Ringgenberg BE'' in order to distinguish it from other "Ringgenbergs") is a village and a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Besides t ...

and owned castles in

Meiringen Meiringen () is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Besides the village of Meiringen, the municipality includes the settlements of Balm, Brünigen, Eisenbolgen, Hausen, Prasti, ...

and

Giswil Giswil is a municipality in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. History Giswil is first mentioned in the 11th century, as ''Kisevilare''. Geography The municipality is located on the southern end of Lake Sarnen. It consists of the villag ...

before inheriting the tower at Flüelen. The inheritance was disputed and Johann von Rudenz finally took possession of the castle in the 1370s. As part of receiving the inheritance on 19 June 1365 he granted half the collected tolls to the Canton of Uri. He ruled there for only a few years and died, the last of his line, before 1383. After the death of Johann von Rudenz, the castle passed through a number of owners. In the first half of the 17th century it was owned by

Landammann ''Landammann'' (plural ''Landammänner''), is the German title used by the chief magistrate in certain Cantons of Switzerland and at times featured in the Head of state's style at the confederal level. Old Swiss Confederacy ''Landammann'' or ''A ...

Johann Heinrich von Brunnen. In 1727 it was acquired by Johann Joachim Epp. Then, in 1815 the Zgaggen family purchased it for 1,900

florins The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...

. They repaired the old tower and returned it to a livable condition. They filled in the old dry moat and planted extensive gardens around the castle. However, over the following centuries, they had to sell off parts of the land and the gardens were replaced with streets and buildings as Flüelen grew. The castle was later sold to the municipality of Flüelen. In 2005 the municipality opened a public park on the castle grounds and opened the great hall for events.

Castle site

The tower is located near the center of Flüelen. The tower has a rectangular floor plan. The walls are unevenly thick, the eastern wall is while the other three are . The tower was surrounded by curtain walls with defensive towers at the corners. However, the towers and much of the walls have been demolished. Today the tower is only partially surrounded by a low wall. By the 17th century, the tower was topped with the current four

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d roof topped with a pointed spire. The wrap around balcony and new windows were added in the 18th century. In the 19th century the pointed spire was replaced with the current

onion dome An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point. It is a ty ...

spire. In 1931 the tower was repaired and restored, bringing the original stone to light. The castle contains eleven rooms, a great hall, a large kitchen and cellars.

References

{{Authority control Castles in the canton of Uri Buildings and structures in the canton of Uri