The Wörth Castle is a fortification 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 ...
municipality of
Neuhausen am Rheinfall
Neuhausen am Rheinfall (sometimes abbrv. as Neuhausen a. Rhf., called Neuhausen until 1938) is a town and a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland.
The town is close to the Rhine Falls, a tourist attraction and mainland Europe ...
in the
Canton of Schaffhausen
The canton of Schaffhausen, also canton of Schaffouse (german: Kanton Schaffhausen; rm, Chantun Schaffusa; french: Canton de Schaffhouse; it, Canton Sciaffusa) is the northernmost canton of Switzerland. The principal city and capital of the c ...
.
Geography
The
water castle is located at the ''
Rheinfall
, photo = File:SBB RABe 514 DTZ Rheinfall.jpg
, photo_width = 280
, photo_caption = Rhine Falls with Rheinfall Bridge and Laufen Castle
, location = On the border between the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zürich next to Schaffhausen, i ...
'', built on a small island in the
Rhein
Rhein may refer to:
Places
* Rhine, a major river in Europe (german: Rhein, link=no)
* Rhein, a village in the municipality of Morsbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
* Rhein (Ostpreussen), a former name of the town Ryn in Poland
Ships
* ...
river at the municipality of
Neuhausen am Rheinfall
Neuhausen am Rheinfall (sometimes abbrv. as Neuhausen a. Rhf., called Neuhausen until 1938) is a town and a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland.
The town is close to the Rhine Falls, a tourist attraction and mainland Europe ...
in the
Canton of Schaffhausen
The canton of Schaffhausen, also canton of Schaffouse (german: Kanton Schaffhausen; rm, Chantun Schaffusa; french: Canton de Schaffhouse; it, Canton Sciaffusa) is the northernmost canton of Switzerland. The principal city and capital of the c ...
, opposite of the
Laufen Castle in the canton of Zürich. The ''Schlössli'' (twee for German ''Schloss'', meaning castle) owes its name to the location on a small island, washed by the water of the Rheinfall, which used to be known as ''Werd'', meaning literally a river island.
History
Wörth was first mentioned in the 13th century AD, serving up to the middle of the 19th century as a major transhipment point on the east-west trade route, that led from Lake Constance and Basel, and was interrupted by the Rheinfall waterfalls.
The present castle was built in 1348 AD, according to the excavations by the archaeological team of the Canton of Schaffhausen in 2004. Like the predecessor building, which was built in the mid-11th century as ''Burg im Fischerhölzli'', it served as a customs house and that to secure the area, where the goods were transferred to evade the ''Rheinfall''. Earliest owner of the Habsurg fief were the ''Herren von Jestetten'', followed by the
Schultheiss of Randenburg (1291) and the ''Herren von Fulach'' (1422), and in 1429 by the
Kloster Allerheiligen Schaffhausen
Kloster Allerheiligen (All Saints abbey) is a former Benedictine monastery in the Swiss municipality of Schaffhausen in the Canton of Schaffhausen. The church ''Münster Allerheiligen'' is the oldest building in Schaffhausen, and houses also the ...
. After the monastery's abolition in 1524, Wörth was a department (German: ''Amt'') of the city of Schaffhausen.
In the late 1790s, a so-called ''Gertzler'' was the custodian of the then ''Schlösschen Wörth''. It was given as a so-called "Schupf-Lehn" (
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 ...
) by the
Kloster Allerheiligen Schaffhausen
Kloster Allerheiligen (All Saints abbey) is a former Benedictine monastery in the Swiss municipality of Schaffhausen in the Canton of Schaffhausen. The church ''Münster Allerheiligen'' is the oldest building in Schaffhausen, and houses also the ...
along with the salmon fisheries, customs, vineyard, forest etc. The ''Gertzler'' moved the customs for the monastery and had to deliver 2/3 of the salmon catch. For subsistence, he was allowed to fell timber out of the forest, and had to pay a lease of 30 ''Thaler'' per year for the use of the vineyard and the fields. The term "Schlupf-Lehn" derives from the Swiss German word for "slide out", as the feudal hereditary could be revoked if the administrator did not meet its obligations to the monastery.
When the railway was built, the water traffic route lost its importance, and the Canton of Schaffhausen rebuilt the building as a restaurant in 1835/36.
The former customs station and
Salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
farming was converted in the ''tourism promotional restaurant'' «Caffé- und Speisewirtschaft Schlösschen Wörth», that was opened on 2 February 1837 (''
Candlemas''). The construction costs for the renovation had to be paid by the former owner, the
Allerheiligen Abbey in Schaffhausen.
Rheinfall - Schloss Wörth 2010-06-03 17-04-24.JPG, Wörth as seen from nearby the Laufen Castle
Neuhausen am Rheinfall - Rheinfall - Schloss Wörth 2010-06-24 19-05-14 ShiftN.jpg
Rheinfall - Schloss Wörth IMG 3770.jpg
Laufen-Uhwiesen - Schloss Laufen - Rheinfall 2010-06-24 19-47-18 ShiftN.jpg, historic view
Architecture
A bridge was leading from the righthand shore of the ''Rhein'' river into the ring the walled courtyard. On the north side a palace-like building was built, whose third floor consisted of a cantilevered clerestory timbered. In 1621 a stone floor replaced the clerestory. New floors were added, new windows broken, and the ring wall and gate was broken. As of today it houses the restaurant ''Schlössli Wörth'' that claims to be a gourmet restaurant, and also a gift shop and a fast food joint, connected with a terrace and a brilliant view of ''Rheinfall''.
Wörth is also the starting point of the ''Rheinfall'' tour boats.
Trivia
The castle was mentioned in the diary of
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
on 18 September 1797,
''Schlösschen Wörth: Ich ging hinein, um ein Glas Wein zu trinken. Alter Eindruck bey Erblickung des Mannes ...'' Goethe asked the custodian (''Gertzler'') about his work and documented the then conditions.
Cultural heritage
The building is listed in the
as a ''Class B'' object of regional importance.
References
External links
Website of the restaurant ''Schlössli Wörth''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worth Castle
Castles in the canton of Schaffhausen
Tourist attractions in the canton of Schaffhausen
Neuhausen am Rheinfall
Restaurants in Switzerland
River islands of Switzerland
Islands of the Rhine
Water castles in Switzerland
Cultural property of regional significance in Switzerland