Tarasp Castle (german: Schloss Tarasp,
Romansh: ''Chastè da Tarasp'') 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 Switzerland, near the former municipality of
Tarasp
Tarasp is a former municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Its eleven settlements are situated within the Lower Engadin valley along the Inn River, at the foot of the Sesvenna Range. On 1 January 2015 the former ...
(now
Scuol
Scuol () is a municipality in the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region in the Swiss canton of Grisons. The official language in Scuol is Romansh. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Ardez, Guarda, Tarasp, Ftan and Sent merged into S ...
), in Lower
Engadin
The Engadin or Engadine ( rm, ;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ' ...
,
Graubünden. It is a Swiss
heritage site of national significance.
History
![Tarasp-03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Tarasp-03.jpg)
Tarasp Castle was probably built in the 11th century or possibly as early as the 10th century. The name comes from ''terra aspera'' or wild earth, which may refer to the new lands in the
Inn river valley.
They had adopted the name of the castle by 1089 when Ulrich von Tarasp was mentioned in a
papal mandate to the
Bishop of Chur
The Bishop of Chur (German: ''Bischof von Chur'') is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chur, Grisons, Switzerland (Latin: ''Dioecesis Curiensis'').[Marienberg Abbey
Marienberg Abbey (german: Abtei Marienberg; it, Abbazia Monte Maria) is a Benedictine Order, Benedictine abbey in Mals, Vinschgau in South Tyrol, northern Italy. It was founded in 1149 or 1150 by Ulrich von Tarasp and other nobles.
It has ma ...]
, as part of their program to carve out a barony in the formerly uninhabited high alpine valley. At this time the castle consisted of a
ring wall
A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two fortified towers or bastions of a castle, fortress, or town.
Ancient fortifications
Evidence for curtain walls or a series of walls surrounding a town or fortress can be found in the historical ...
and a chapel with a bell tower that also served as a watch tower.
In 1160 Ulrich II donated his portion of the castle to the Bishop of Chur. However, his nephew and co-owner Gerhard, with the support of the
Count of Tyrol
The (Princely) County of Tyrol was an estate of the Holy Roman Empire established about 1140. After 1253, it was ruled by the House of Gorizia and from 1363 by the House of Habsburg. In 1804, the County of Tyrol, unified with the secularised pr ...
, seized the castle and drove out the bishop's troops in 1163. The bishop, together with Ulrich von Tarasp and his cousin Egino von Matsch, besieged the castle and eventually forced Gerhard to compromise. The castle became the bishop's, but Gerhard and his descendants would hold the castle as their
fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...
. If Gerhard died without an heir, the castle would revert to the bishop.
[ In 1170 Gerhard died a violent death, followed by the last male heir, Ulrich, in 1177. The castle passed to the bishop while the Matsch family inherited the Abbey. In 1200 the bishop appointed the Reichenberg family as his ]vogt
During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...
or representative in Tarasp Castle. In 1239 Swiker von Reichenberg, ignoring the bishop's claim, sold the castle to the castle to Albert of Tyrol. Beginning in 1273 the Matsch family received Tarasp as vassals of Tyrol.
The Matsch family held Tarasp for about a century and a half. When the lands of the Counts of Tyrol were inherited by the Dukes of Austria, the Matschs became Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
vassals. In 1422 Frederick VII of Toggenburg inherited Tarasp through his wife Elisabeth von Matsch
Elisabeth von Matsch (also ''von Mätsch'', ''Mazzo'', ''von Toggenburg'', date of birth unknown; † after 20 June 1442, assumably on 24 November 1446, probably in the Rüti Abbey) was the last countess of the Swiss noble House of Toggenburg from ...
, but when he died in 1436, it returned to the Matsch family. In 1464 Ulrich IX von Matsch sold the castle to Sigmund of Austria
Sigismund (26 October 1427 – 4 March 1496), a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria from 1439 (elevated to Archduke in 1477) until his death. As a scion of the Habsburg Leopoldian line, he ruled over Further Austria and the ...
, which triggered an uprising in Lower Engadine
The Engadin or Engadine ( rm, ;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ''G ...
. While the Austrians were able to retain control over the region, relations remained tense between the castle and the locals. When the Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
was adopted in Engadine the situation became worse. In 1548 and again in 1578 Protestant locals attacked and attempted to capture the castle. Despite additional fortifications, in 1612 they successfully stormed and burned Tarasp.[ A lightning strike in 1625 set the castle on fire again and killed the daughter of the Austrian representative in the castle.][
Over the next centuries, Tarasp was occupied by a number of administrators, but remained under Austrian control. By the 18th century Tarasp was the only Austrian territory in Switzerland. Throughout this period, the castle was often expanded and renovated to its present appearance.][ After the ]French invasion of Switzerland
The French invasion of Switzerland (French: ''Campagne d'Helvétie'', German: ''Franzoseneinfall'') occurred from January to May 1798 as part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The independent Old Swiss Confederacy collapsed from the invasion and s ...
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 ...
, in 1803 the castle was taken from the Austrians and given to the Republic. A few months later, when the Republic collapsed, the castle was transferred to the newly created Canton of Graubünden.[ After about 1815 the castle was abandoned and rapidly fell into ruin.
Initially the Canton planned to turn the castle into a prison, but eventually gave up the idea as too expensive and began looking for a buyer. The von Planta family bought it in 1856, began repairing it and replaced the damaged roof. In 1900 it was purchased by Dr. Lingner of ]Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
, who restored the castle for a decade from 1906 to 1916. After his death, Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse
, spouses =
, issue =
, house = Hesse-Darmstadt
, father =Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
, mother =Princess Alice of the United Kingdom
, birth_date =
, birth_place = New Palace, Darmstadt, Grand D ...
inherited the castle from Lingner. It was turned into a museum in 1919. In 2004 the von Hessen family announced that they wanted to sell the castle. In 2008 the municipality of Tarasp agreed to investigate purchasing it and converting it into a cultural and tourist attraction. In 2010 the ''Fundaziun Chastè da Tarasp'' was created to seek funding and administer the castle after it was purchased. After the Foundation struggled to raise funding, in 2015 Swiss artist Not Vital announced that he would purchase the castle. In March 2016 Not Vital acquired the castle for CHF 7.9 million.
File:Tarasp 1520.jpg, Tarasp in 1520
File:Schloß Trasp (Merian).jpg, The castle in 1679
File:Die Gartenlaube (1854) b 236.jpg, Appearance in 1854
File:Tarasp 1904.jpg, The castle in 1904
File:ETH-BIB-Sparsels, Schloss Tarasp v. S. O.-Inlandflüge-LBS MH01-004980.tif, Aerial view by Walter Mittelholzer
Walter Mittelholzer (2 April 1894 – 9 May 1937) was a Swiss aviation pioneer. He was active as a pilot, photographer, travel writer, as well as of the first aviation entrepreneurs.
Life
Born on 2 April 1894 in St. Gallen as the son of a baker ...
(1925)
File:Tarasp Castle.jpg, The castle with the Engadine Dolomites
The Sesvenna Alps are a mountain range located in the Alps of eastern Switzerland, northern Italy and western Austria.
Geography
Sesvenna Alps are considered to be part of the Central Eastern Alps. Their high dolomitic peaks overlook Scuol in th ...
in background
File:2015-02-24 13-09-08 1435.0 Switzerland Kanton Graubünden Vulpera Fontana.jpg, Tarasp Castle in winter
File:Schloss Tarasp - 004.jpg, Half round tower
File:Schloss Tarasp - 005.jpg, The Lower Gate
File:Schloss Tarasp - 010.jpg, The Chapel Gate
File:Schloss Tarasp - 023.jpg, View down to the Lower Gate and Gatehouse
File:Schloss Tarasp – Karl August Lingners Bad.jpg, Bath installed by Karl Lingners
File:Schloss Tarasp – Karl August Lingners Orgel.jpg, Organ installed by Karl Lingners
File:160618 Schloss Tarasp 6.jpg, Outer wall and Lower Gate
Castle site
The first fortifications on the site were a ring wall and part of the chapel and its bell tower. In the 13th century a large palas
A ''palas'' () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval ''Pfalz'' or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson, ...
with thick walls was built west of the chapel, becoming the center of the castle. The residential wings probably were also built in the 13th century. In the 16th and 17th centuries the castle was attacked several times and burned twice. The residence wings in particular were rebuilt and renovated several times during those centuries. The lower floors were given vaulted ceilings, new windows were cut through the rock walls and they were decorated in wood.[
The chapel was integrated into the ring wall that surrounds the castle. The ]apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
was decorated with 12th century paintings, of which only fragments remain. The interior was renovated in the 17th century. The free standing bell tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
was probably built as a combination church tower and watch tower. It is five stories tall and crowned with a 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 ...
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 ...
.[
The ]zwinger
"" () is a German word for outer ward or bailey (castle), outer bailey. It represents an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the Post-classical history, post-classical and early ...
(outer courtyard) and two half tower
A half tower (sometimes half-tower), open tower,Kaufmann, J.E. and Kaufmann, H.W. (2001). ''The Medieval Fortress. Castles, Forts and Walled Cities of the Middle Ages'', Da Capo, Cambridge, MA, p. 27. . or open-gorged towerHull, Lise. ''Understan ...
s were probably built in the 16th century to protect the castle from attack.
The castle was renovated in 1714-15 and again in 1732.[
The exterior walls are covered in white plaster and were decorated with coats of arms from the late 15th century. These paintings were still visible in 1900 but have since faded. However, a few were restored in recent restoration projects.
When Dr. Karl Lingner bought the castle in 1900, he undertook a complete restoration of the castle under the guidance of Professor Rudolf Rahn. He placed a large organ, built by Jehmlich of Dresden, in the old armory. He purchased furniture from noble houses scattered throughout Graubünden and Tyrol to furnish the castle. However, he died unexpectedly on 5 June 1916 without ever living in the castle.Official website-History]
accessed 19 April 2017
See also
* List of castles in Switzerland
This list includes castles and fortresses in Switzerland.
Entries list the name and location of the castle, fortress or ruins in each Canton in Switzerland.
Aargau
Appenzell Ausserrhoden
Appenzell Innerrhoden
Basel-Land
...
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarasp Castle
Scuol
Museums in Graubünden
Castles in Graubünden
Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden
Historic house museums in Switzerland