Pfäffikon Castle 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 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 ...

Freienbach Freienbach is a municipality in Höfe District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. History Freienbach is first mentioned in 972 as ''Friginbach''. Geography Freienbach has an area, , of . Of this area, 40.7% is used for agricultural purpos ...

of the

Canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz (german: Kanton Schwyz rm, Chantun Sviz; french: Canton de Schwytz; it, Canton Svitto) is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on ...

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

Einsiedeln Abbey Einsiedeln Abbey (german: Kloster Einsiedeln) is a Benedictine Catholic monastery in the village of Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, in recognition of Meinrad of Einsiedeln, a he ...

was granted farms at Pfäffikon along with surrounding land along

Lake Zurich __NOTOC__ Lake Zurich ( Swiss German/Alemannic: ''Zürisee''; German: ''Zürichsee''; rm, Lai da Turitg) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or ''Zürichsee'' can be used to ...

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

in 965. Soon thereafter the abbot built a large

granary A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animal ...

in Pfäffikon. Between 1233 and 1266 Abbot Anshelm von Schwanden replaced the old granary with stone tower which was designed as a watch tower, granary and residence. In 1299 the Prince-Abbot Johann von Schwanden added walls,

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...

s and a moat to the tower during the ''Marchenstreit'' conflict between the Schwyz and the Abbey over grazing rights. On the night of Epiphany in 1314 a mob from Schwyz attacked the Abbey attempting to destroy the land and tax records. They hoped to destroy any records of the Abbey's counterclaims to the Schwyz grazing rights. However, the Abbot, perhaps anticipating the attack, had already moved himself and the important documents to Pfäffikon Castle.Swiss Castles.ch
accessed 16 November 2016 By 1359 the castle was being used as the Abbot's summer residence as well as for its original purposes. In the 15th century Abbot Burkard von Weissenburg-Krenkingen (1418-1438) expanded the castle and changed its name to ''Weissenburg''. He built a residential wing on one side of the tower and a chapel on the other. In 1480 the election of a new Abbot for the Abbey took place at Pfäffikon. In 1528 the castle was renovated and the walls and moat were repaired. Abbot Joachim Eichhorn (1544-1569) built a new

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

chapel and expanded the granary in the castle. In 1577 a fire destroyed much of the Abbey and the village of

Einsiedeln Einsiedeln () is a municipality and district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century. History Early history There was no permanent settlement in the area p ...

. The monks and villagers moved to the Castle for 7 months until the Abbey and their homes were repaired. Around 1760 Eichhorn's granary expansion was demolished and replaced with another residential wing. In 1785 the Gothic chapel was renovated in the

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 ...

style.Swiss Society for Cultural Preservation
accessed 17 November 2016 Following the 1798 French invasion and the creation 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 ...

Pfäffikon Castle was heavily damaged and declared the property 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 ...

. Following the collapse of the Republic and the 1803

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 ...

the castle was returned to the Abbey and once again became religious property. In 1820 the remainder of the curtain wall was demolished while the tower, chapel and residential wings were rebuilt. In 1839 the rotten tower roof and overhand were replaced with the current roof. In 1928 the chapel was renovated and in 1986-88 the chapel, tower and moat were repaired and renovated. Today the castle and its restaurant are available for conferences, piano concerts, meetings and events, while the residential wings are used for municipal administration.Site description
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this map
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Castle site

The main tower is a square on each side and tall. The walls are made of massive stone blocks and are thick at the base, tapering to thick on the top floor. The main entrance is located on the west side of the first floor and was reached by a wooden staircase that could be pulled up if needed. The second story was built as a large living area and included large windows with built in seating that overlooked the lake. The third story was also probably used as living quarters. The tower was probably originally topped with a wooden structure that overhung the stone walls, before it was replaced with the current roof. In the 15th century a two-story fortification was built near the tower and protected with a series of moats. In the 16th century, however, it was demolished and replaced with the current chapel. The moats were filled in and today only the main moat remains. The chapel has a rectangular

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with a small polygonal

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

. The

portal Portal often refers to: * Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...

is Gothic, while the interior was decorated in the Baroque style in 1780-85, which was partly replaced in 1893-95. The stucco is Neo-classical while the wall murals are from the late 19th century. The

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

altars were built by Father Rudolf Blättler in 1892.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfaffikon Castle Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Schwyz Castles in the canton of Schwyz

History

Castle site

See also

References

External links