The Hexenturm is a stone tower 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 ...

Sarnen , neighboring_municipalities= Alpnach, Entlebuch (LU), Flühli (LU), Giswil, Hasle (LU), Kerns, Sachseln , twintowns = Sarnen is a small historic town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Obwalden situated on the northern shores o ...

in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The name (" Witch tower") refers to it being used as a prison for suspected witches in the 17th century. Today it houses the Cantonal Archives of Obwalden.

History

The tower was built around 1285/86 (determined by Dendrochronological dating) as the residence tower of larger castle complex, the ''Unteren Burg von Sarnen'' or Lower Sarnen Castle. The castle was built for the von Kellner family who were knights in service to the

Murbach Abbey Murbach Abbey (french: Abbaye de Murbach) was a famous Benedictine monastery in Murbach, southern Alsace, in a valley at the foot of the Grand Ballon in the Vosges. The monastery was founded in 727 by Eberhard, Count of Alsace, and established ...

. The first member of the family to appear in records is the ''cellarius'' Heinrich at the monastery in 1229. The family name may be a form of the title and office that he held. The sons of Heinrich and his brothers were the knights Niklaus and Heinrich Kellner who built the castle. Niklaus probably lived in Sarnen, while his brother lived in Lucerne. In 1291 the Habsburgs bought the town of Lucerne and the

Unterwalden Unterwalden, translated from the Latin ''inter silvas''(''between the forests''), is the old name of a forest-canton of the Old Swiss Confederacy in central Switzerland, south of Lake Lucerne, consisting of two valleys or '' Talschaften'', no ...

estates, including the castle and surrounding farms, from Murbach Abbey. The Kellner family became

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

s of the Habsburg-Laufenburg line. When the Everlasting League was created on 1 August 1291, the Kellners found themselves at odds with their neighbors and by 1308 they had been driven out. The last Kellner, Heinrich, died in 1348. After the Kellners were forced out, the Landenburg family occupied the castle. The 15th century

White Book of Sarnen The ''White Book of Sarnen'' (german: Weisses Buch von Sarnen) is a collection of medieval manuscripts compiled in the late 15th century by Hans Schriber, state secretary (''Landschreiber'') in the Swiss Confederation canton Obwalden. This volum ...

contains a story about how in the early 14th century local Swiss patriots stormed a castle and burned it on Christmas Eve while the pro-Habsburg nobleman was attending

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

. Traditionally it was believed that the attack happened to nearby

Landenberg Castle Landenberg Castle is a ruined castle atop a hill in the municipality of Sarnen in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. In the 18th century an armory and firing range were built on the site. The Landenberg Armory is a Swiss heritage site of ...

, though more recent research indicates that it may have been the Hexenturm. By the 15th century, the tower was a prison for the Canton of Obwalden. In the 16th century it was repaired and occasionally used to store

powder A powder is a dry, bulk solid composed of many very fine particles that may flow freely when shaken or tilted. Powders are a special sub-class of granular materials, although the terms ''powder'' and '' granular'' are sometimes used to distin ...

and records. During the 17th century

witch-hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern per ...

s the tower was used to hold accused witches, leading to the name. At some time before 1798 the

prison cell A prison cell (also known as a jail cell) is a small room in a prison or police station where a prisoner is held. Cells greatly vary by their furnishings, hygienic services, and cleanliness, both across countries and based on the level of punish ...

at the top of the tower was demolished. The fortifications around the tower gradually fell into disrepair and in the 19th century were demolished and replaced with terraces. In 1877 it was supposed to become a museum. A new entrance was built and some of the old windows were bricked up, but the museum never opened. Today the cantonal archives are stored in the tower.

References

External links

Swiss Castles entry on the Hexenturm
{{Castles of Obwalden Castles in Obwalden Cultural property of national significance in Obwalden

History

See also

References

External links