Brandis Castle (Lützelflüh)

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Brandis Castle
Lützelflüh

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Burg Brandis, Copperplate engraving by Johann Ludwig Nöthiger, 1743.
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Brandis Castle
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Red pog.svg
Brandis Castle
Coordinates 47°00′46″N7°40′42″E / 47.012915°N 7.678318°E / 47.012915; 7.678318 Coordinates: 47°00′46″N7°40′42″E / 47.012915°N 7.678318°E / 47.012915; 7.678318
Type Hill castle
Code CH-BE
Site information
Condition Ruined, only ditch and wall fragments
Site history
Built 13th Century
Garrison information
Occupants Freiherren von Brandis

Brandis Castle is the ruin of a hill fort from the 13th century. It stands in the Swiss municipality of Lützelflüh in the Canton of Bern above the village Lützelflüh on a rocky outcrop. Today, only the ruins and the moat are still visible.

Switzerland federal republic in Western Europe

Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a country situated in western, central and southern Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The sovereign state is a federal republic bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning a total area of 41,285 km2 (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8.5 million people is concentrated mostly on the plateau, where the largest cities are to be found: among them are the two global cities and economic centres Zürich and Geneva.

Municipalities of Switzerland smallest government division in Switzerland

Municipalities are the lowest level of administrative division in Switzerland. Each municipality is part of one of the Swiss cantons, which form the Swiss Confederation. In most cantons municipalities are also part of districts or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions.

Lützelflüh Place in Bern, Switzerland

Lützelflüh is a municipality in the administrative district of Emmental in the Swiss canton of Bern.

Contents

History

Brandis castle was built in 1230 as the headquarters of the Freiherr of Brandis. The first known member of the family was Konrad (1239–57). His grandson, Thüring (1280-1324), was involved in the murder of King Albert I by the king's nephew John Parricida in 1308. For this involvement, in 1313 Thüring lost the family estates in Spiez in the Berner Oberland. Howerver, he was supported by Bern and the Counts of Kyburg and retained the Lützelflüh lands. [1]

Albert I of Germany King of Germany

Albert I of Habsburg, the eldest son of King Rudolf I of Germany and his first wife Gertrude of Hohenburg, was a Duke of Austria and Styria from 1282 and King of Germany from 1298 until his assassination.

John Parricida Austrian nobleman; son of the Habsburg duke Rudolf II of Austria; by killing his uncle, King Albert I of Germany, foiled the first attempt of the Habsburgs to install a hereditary monarchy in the Holy Roman Empire

John Parricida or John the Parricide, also called John of Swabia, was the son of the Habsburg duke Rudolf II of Austria. By killing his uncle, King Albert I of Germany, he foiled the first attempt of the Habsburg dynasty to install a hereditary monarchy in the Holy Roman Empire.

Spiez Place in Bern, Switzerland

Spiez is a town and municipality on the shore of Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss canton of Bern. It is part of the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district. Besides the town of Spiez, the municipality also includes the settlements of Einigen, Hondrich, Faulensee, and Spiezwiler.

The castle from the 13th century was from where there was control of their possessions in the upper and middle Emmental. In 1337 the Freiherr of Brandis received Bernese citizenship. By the 15th century, the family owned lands in what is now eastern Switzerland and Vorarlberg. In 1437 Wolfhart V von Brandis inherited Marschlins Castle and the Maienfeld Herrschaft in Graubünden through his wife Verena von Werdenberg-Bludenz. [2] He began selling off the western Brandis lands. In 1455 the family sold the lordship of Brandis in Bern to the Lords of Scharnachthal. Then there were several changes of ownership until the castle, in 1607, came into the possession of the city Bern and a Bernese bailiff was appointed and took up residence in the castle. [1]

Emmental valley

The Emmental is a valley in west central Switzerland, forming part of the canton of Bern. It is a hilly landscape comprising the basins of the rivers Emme and Ilfis. The region is mostly devoted to farming, particularly dairy farming. The principal settlements are the town of Burgdorf and the village of Langnau.

Bern Place in Switzerland

Bern or Berne is the de facto capital of Switzerland, referred to by the Swiss as their Bundesstadt, or "federal city". With a population of 142,493, Bern is the fifth-most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 36 municipalities, had a population of 406,900 in 2014. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000. Bern is also the capital of the canton of Bern, the second-most populous of Switzerland's cantons.

Vorarlberg State of Austria

Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal state (Bundesland) of Austria. It has the second-smallest area after Vienna, and although it has the second-smallest population, it also has the second-highest population density. It borders three countries: Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The only Austrian state that shares a border with Vorarlberg is Tyrol to the east.

During the 1798 French invasion, the castle was burned and almost totally destroyed. It was abandoned and continued to fall into ruin.

See also

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The canton of Bern or Berne is the second largest of the 26 Swiss cantons by both surface area and population. Located in west-central Switzerland, it borders the canton of Jura and the canton of Solothurn to the north. To the west lie the canton of Neuchâtel, the canton of Fribourg and canton of Vaud. To the south lies the canton of Valais. East of the canton of Bern lie the cantons of Uri, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Lucerne and Aargau.

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References

  1. 1 2 von Brandis family in German , French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland .
  2. ↑ Brandis, Wolfhart V. von in German , French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland .
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