Greifenstein Castle is a ruined
castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
in the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
of
Filisur
Filisur is an Alps, Alpine village and former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Albula Region in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. The village sits on a hillside with a view to the west where the t ...
of the
Canton of Graubünden
The Grisons (; ) or Graubünden (),Names include:
* ;
* Romansh:
**
**
**
**
**
**;
* ;
* ;
* .
See also other names. more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton of Graubünden, is one of the twenty-six cantons of Switzerland. I ...
in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. It is included on the register of the
.
History
The castle was built on a rocky outcropping above the village probably in the 12th century as the home of the Greifenstein family.
They were probably related to the Wildenberg-Sagogn and Frauenberg in Ruschein families. The first mention of them was in 1233 as ''Grifenstein''
when Rudolf von Greifenstein was ordered by the
Pope
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
to go on a
crusade
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
as
penance
Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of contrition for sins committed, as well as an alternative name for the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession.
The word ''penance'' derive ...
for murdering
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
Berthold von
Helfenstein.
[ In 1237, he finally left to join the Crusades. In 1243, his relatives Heinrich and Albert were listed as witnesses in a legal proceeding as ''Hainricus et Albertus de Grifinstain''.]Bishop of Chur
The Bishop of Chur (German: ''Bischof von Chur'') is the ordinary of the Diocese of Chur in Grisons, Switzerland (Latin: ''Dioecesis Curiensis'').[Freiherr
(; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...]
von Marmels ruled over the herrschaft
The German term ''Herrschaft'' (plural: ''Herrschaften'') covers a broad semantic field and only the context will tell whether it means, "rule", "power", "dominion", "authority", "territory" or "lordship". In its most abstract sense, it refers ...
for the Bishop. In 1360 the Freiherr von Wildenberg-Sagogn sold it to the Freiherr von Matsch.[
By 1392 the von Matsch family were robber knights who used the castle as a base for raids against the Bishop's estates. In 1394 Bishop Hartmann II successfully sent an army to drive out the robbers and take control of the castle. He appointed a ]vogt
An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...
to administer the castle and lands for him, but was forced to mortgage it to the Marmels family in 1411. The Matsch family began raiding and sued the Bishop to return the castle to them. In 1421 Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
Ernst of Austria negotiated a compromise where by the Bishop kept both Greifenstein and Tschanüff Castle
Tschanüff Castle is a ruined castle in the former Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of Ramosch (now Valsot) of the Canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It is a Swiss Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional signif ...
s but had to pay the Matsch family 2,500 Marks.[
In 1468 Greifenstein, along with several other of the Bishop's castles, were attacked and occupied by the ]League of God's House
The League of God's House ( German: ''Gotteshausbund'', Italian: ''Lega Caddea'', ) was formed in what is now Switzerland on 29 January 1367, to resist the rising power of the Bishopric of Chur and the House of Habsburg. The League allied with ...
. The castles were returned to the Bishop following intervention by the city of Zurich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
. In 1537 Filisur bought the rights to rule themselves from the Bishop and the castle lost its importance. It was abandoned and rapidly fell into ruin. In 1550 it was mentioned as being mostly destroyed. However, the roof remained in good repair until about 1840.[ When the roof finally collapsed, part of the castle was broken up for stone for the new school house in Filisur.][
]
Castle site
The castle consists of three separate parts built on terraces at differing elevations. The lower gate was built in a rocky gap at the foot of the outcropping. The entrance and parts of the surrounding wall are still visible. The lower castle once stood west of the lower gate. However, no traces remain of the wall that protected it on the valley side.
The middle castle occupies a triangular terrace north and above the lower castle. A gate guarded the narrow southern end of the triangle. Today the only trace of this gate is channel carved in the rock that probably allowed the gate to be barred. Much of the massive curtain wall that surrounded the middle castle is still standing on the north and western sides of the terrace. The vestibule and a small altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...
from the castle chapel are still visible along the north wall. Additionally, the middle castle cistern and rock channels that carried water to it are near the chapel.
A narrow pathway, carved into the rock, leads from the middle castle to the upper castle, a vertical climb of about . The upper castle was an uneven hexagon tower of about . Today, only the foundation of this wall remains.
Gallery
File:Greifenstein Lage.jpg, The rocky outcropping above the village
File:Greifenstein Abschlussmauer.jpg, Ruins of the lower gate
File:Greifenstein Zisterne.jpg, The cistern in the middle castle
File:Greifenstein NW.jpg, North-west castle walls
File:Greifenstein Nordwand2.jpg, The north wall of the middle castle meeting the eastern cliff face
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-Landschaft, Bas ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greifenstein Castle
Cultural property of national significance in Graubünden
Castles in Graubünden
Bergün Filisur