Unspunnen, Wilderswill, Switzerland - Castles on Waymarking.com

Castle with a central round tower at the high-est point, erected on a rock detached on all sides.

A lord of the castle was first mentioned in 1232: Burkhard von Unspunnen. In the 13th century, the castle was acquired by the lords of Wädenswil, according to the record as a result of the partici-pation of Burkhard in the revolt of the Oberland nobility against Duke Berchtold von Zähringen. In 1306, pledged to the Habsburgs, the pledge subsequently passing through various hands. In 1332, unsuccessful siege by the Haslital valley dwellers; in 1334 captured by the city of Bern. After that, various owners until renewed transfer to Bern, which in 1398 sold the complex to the Scharnachtal lords, who restored the castle in about 1425. Occupied until 1533, the castle fell into ruins during the 16th and 17th centuries.

The core construction from the early 13th century comprised the central round tower, the upper stone-walled building (residential apartments) as well as the ring wall. To the north, the latter has been partially preserved, to the southeast verified and is likely to have corresponded to the course of the later walls of the so-called lower palace in the southwest. Access to the castle courtyard was on the north side. At the end of the Middle Ages, the lower residential apartments and southwest annex were built.

Unspunnen became the “Bernese Rütli” as a result of the herdsmen’s games, first held on the meadow in front of the ruins in 1805, with Alpine horn playing, wrestling, crossbow shoot-ing and stone throwing (the “Unspunnenstein” or “Unspunnen Stone” today enjoys international fame). The objective of this national festival was to decrease the tensions between the towns and the countryside following the 1803 Act of Mediation. “…new bonds of friendship between the inhabit-ants of the countryside and the residents of the towns, … to make that beloved unity germinate and flourish again…”, as the Bern mayor, Niklaus Friedrich von Mülinen wrote in the invitation text. Subsequently, Unspunnen became a compulsory destination for international tourism, a vehicle of the newly launched Alpine myth. Around 1880, a first restoration brought a terrace and a polygonal pavilion.

Accessibility: Full access Condition: Partly ruined Admission Charge?: no Website: Not listed

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   04/23/2012 ichgott visited it 05/15/2007 Team_Eagle visited it

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