Felsenburg Castle is a ruined castle in the

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 ...

Kandergrund Kandergrund is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History The area may have been lightly inhabited during the Bronze Age, however the earliest documented settlement was ar ...

of the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

History

Felsenburg castle was probably built in the 12th century for 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 ...

of Kien. The castle was built on a rocky spire above the road over the

Gemmi pass Gemmi Pass is a high mountain pass across the Bernese Alps connecting Leukerbad (on the south) in the canton of Valais with Kandersteg (on the north) in the canton of Bern. The pass itself lies within the canton of Valais, at a height of above s ...

into

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

. It was inherited, along with the rest of the ''

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 ...

'' of

Frutigen Frutigen is a municipality in the Bernese Oberland in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is the capital of the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district. History The area around Frutigen may have been settled since possibly the Bro ...

, by the Freiherr of Wädenswil in 1290. The Freiherr of Turn acquired it from Wädenswil in 1312. It was mentioned in a record in 1339 as the ''castrum de Petra''. It was again mentioned in 1368 as ''Stein'',

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

for ''Stone''. In 1400, Bern acquired the castle along with the rest of the ''Herrschaft''. They abandoned Felsenburg and allowed it fall into ruin.

Castle site

Currently, only the rectangular main tower and remnants of the outer walls are still standing.

References

Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern Castles in the Canton of Bern Ruined castles in Switzerland {{Switzerland-castle-stub

History

Castle site

See also

References