Hohensax (german: Ruine Hohensax or german: Burg Hohensax) is a ruined castle in the

Sennwald Sennwald is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Werdenberg in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Geography Sennwald has an area, , of . Of this area, 49.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 31.5% is forested. ...

municipality in the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

canton St. Gallen The canton of St. Gallen, also canton of St Gall (german: link=no, Kanton St. Gallen ; rm, Chantun Son Gagl; french: Canton de Saint-Gall; it, Canton San Gallo), is a canton of Switzerland. The capital is St. Gallen. Located in northeastern ...

. The castle was built around 1200 by the

barons 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 knigh ...

of Sax, and was destroyed in 1446. In 1248, the castle passed to Ulrich von Sax, founder of the Sax-Hohensax line of the noble family. The castle was plundered in a feud of 1393, and sold together with the villages of Sax and Gams to the dukes of Austria. In the

Old Zürich War The Old Zurich War (german: Alter Zürichkrieg), 1440–46, was a conflict between the canton of Zurich and the other seven cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy over the succession to the Count of Toggenburg. In 1436, Count Friedrich VII of ...

, the people of

Appenzell Appenzell is a historic canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered a league with the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1411, ...

captured and

slighted Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative or social structures. This destruction of property sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It is ...

the castle in 1446. After this, the barons of Hohensax resided in the nearby Forstegg castle at Salez. In 1640, the ruin passed to the barony of

Sax-Forstegg The Lordship of Sax-Forstegg was a territory in the Alpine Rhine Valley, including the settlements of Sennwald and Altstätten, now part of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland. It was named for the baronial family of Sax and their castle Forst ...

, one of the constituent parts of the

canton of Linth Linth was a canton of the Helvetic Republic from 1798 to 1803, consisting of Glarus and its subject County of Werdenberg, the Höfe and March districts of Schwyz and the Züricher subject Lordship of Sax, along with a handful of shared terri ...

of the

Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...

in 1798, and later the

canton of St. Gallen The canton of St. Gallen, also canton of St Gall (german: link=no, Kanton St. Gallen ; rm, Chantun Son Gagl; french: Canton de Saint-Gall; it, Canton San Gallo), is a canton of Switzerland. The capital is St. Gallen. Located in northeastern ...

. It included the villages of Sax, Salez and

Gams Gams is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Werdenberg in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Gams is first mentioned in 835 as ''Campesias''. In 1210 it was mentioned as ''Chames'', in 1236 as ''Gamps''. Unti ...

Gallery

File:Hohensax Castle 4.JPG, View of the castle from below the tower File:Hohensax Castle 2.JPG, Castle walls File:Hohensax Castle 3.JPG, Castle tower File:Hohensax Castle 5.JPG, Interior of the castle tower File:Hohensax Castle 6.JPG, Information board

References

* Jakob Obrecht: «Die Bauuntersuchung an Turm und Schildmauer der Ruine Hohensax, Sennwald SG, 2008». In: ''Mittelalter. Zeitschrift des Schweizerischen Burgenvereins''. 14. Jhg. / Nr. 4. Basel 2009. {{Authority control Castles in the canton of St. Gallen Ruined castles in Switzerland Buildings and structures demolished in the 15th century 1200 establishments in Europe 12th-century establishments in Switzerland 1446 disestablishments in Europe 15th-century disestablishments in Switzerland

Gallery

See also

References