Hünigen Castle () is a

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' ...

Konolfingen Konolfingen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Bern-Mittelland (administrative district), Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. History Konolf ...

of the

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

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 ...

History

At some point during the Middle Ages, the first Hünigen castle was built in Niederhünigen village. A ''Villa Hünigen'' is mentioned as a settlement in the 12th century in a document from

Pope Eugene III Pope Eugene III (; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He was the first Cist ...

, which might include the castle. The

Ministerialis The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a legally unfree but socially elite class of knights, administrators, and officials in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire, drawn from a mix of servile origins, free commoners, and ...

(unfree knights in the service of a

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

overlord) family of Senn von Münsingen ruled over the surrounding territory from this castle. Over the following centuries, the village and castle were owned by a number of noble families. However, in the 16th century the medieval

water castle A water castle, sometimes water-castle, is a castle which incorporates a natural or artificial body of water into its defences.Forde-Johnston (1979), p. 163. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbo ...

outside the village was destroyed in a fire. In 1554, Niklaus von Scharnachtal had a new Hünigen Castle built near the mill at Stalden (in what is now Konolfingen). He had the original stones moved from the old castle site to the new site.Hünigen Castle website
accessed 6 May 2013 In 1588, the

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

ese patrician von May family acquired the village and castle, which they occupied until 1922. The von May family also ruled the village until 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 ...

. In 1892

César Ritz César Ritz, born Cäsar Ritz (23 February 1850 – 26 October 1918), was a Swiss hotelier and founder of several hotels, most famously the Hôtel Ritz Paris, Hôtel Ritz in Paris and the The Ritz London Hotel, Ritz and Carlton Hotel, London, Ca ...

acquired a piece of land near the castle from the von May family and founded the ''Berner Alpen Milchgesellschaft''. The factory processed milk from the surrounding fields and sold their products throughout the world. In 1922 the castle was sold to the Evangelisch Gesellschaft des Kantones Bern (Protestant Society of the Canton of Bern) for 193,000 CHF. Under the Gesellschaft, the castle was converted into a spa and hotel. In 1961 a total of 19,546 guests stayed at the hotel. In 1997/98 it was renovated and reopened as the Parkhotel Schloss Hünigen. On 1 January 2011 the Gesellschaft sold the castle to the Thurgauer Immobilienunternehmen Lark Hill AG company, who renovated it again. In May 2013 the hotel and conference rooms reopened. In 2019, entrepreneur's Walter Inäbnit and Matthias Spyche purchased the castle and operate it as a 4-star seminar and boutique hotel. On February 15 2023, it was the site of

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Presley's sexuall ...

’s grandkid’s first wedding (later divorced).

References

External links

*
Castle Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunigen Castle Castles in the Canton of Bern

History

See also

References

External links