Waldegg Castle

Last updated
Waldegg Castle
Native name
Schloss Waldegg
Schloss Waldegg.jpg
Waldegg Castle, with the restored baroque garden, including the reconstructed obelisks
Location Feldbrunnen-St. Niklaus
Coordinates 47°13′24″N7°32′54″E / 47.223378°N 7.54842°E / 47.223378; 7.54842
Built1682–1686
Built forJohann Viktor von Besenval
Switzerland adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Waldegg Castle in Switzerland
Reliefkarte Solothurn blank.png
Red pog.svg
Waldegg Castle (Canton of Solothurn)

Waldegg Castle, or Schloss Waldegg, is a castle near Solothurn, in the municipality of Feldbrunnen-St. Niklaus of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. [1]

Contents

History

The Baroque castle was built between 1682 and 1686 as a summer house for the Schultheiss Johann Viktor P. Joseph von Besenval (1638–1713), and his wife Maria Margaritha von Sury (1649–1713). [2] [3]

Besenval: The rise of a family

The family Besenval was originally from Torgnon in the Aosta Valley. They had risen socially in the service of King Louis XIV and had received a title of baron (Reichsfreiherren) of the Holy Roman Empire from Emperor Leopold I in 1695. Furthermore, already in February 1655, Martin Besenval (1600–1600), Johann Viktor P. Joseph's father, was ennobled by King Louis XIV and raised to the knighthood in 1658 in gratitude for his merit for the French crown. And on 11 August 1726, King Louis XV erected the von Besenval's possession of Brunstatt in the Alsace into a French barony. The climax of the family's ennoblement was their elevation to the French rank of count in 1829. The letters of nobility also applied to the descendants. Some members of the family also adopted the French form of the family name, de Besenval. [4] [5] [6] [7]

However, the Besenvals' loyalty to the French crown was also financially rewarded. The quote from the French ambassador in Solothurn from 1709 is legendary:

"If the king could buy a man like Besenval in every canton, France could count on the [Swiss] Confederation as on its own kingdom."

— Ambassador Roger Brûlart, Comte de Sillery et Marquis de Puysieulx (1640–1719), the French ambassador in Solothurn, praising the loyalty of Schultheiss Johann Viktor P. Joseph von Besenval to the French crown [8]

The French money was a welcome financial boost for the construction of the Waldegg Castle.

The Besenvals became rich through the salt trade and the mercenary business with France. Soon, a mechanism set in that was common in mercenary patriciates: Because the Besenvals had influence in their own town, they became important for foreign powers – and because they were valued abroad, their power in turn grew in their own town.

Johann Viktor von Besenval

Johann Viktor P. Joseph's son, Johann Viktor, Baron von Besenval von Brunstatt, was a diplomat and colonel in the regiment of the Swiss Guards of France. After he inherited the castle he had it renovated, adding a theater, commissioned in 1722 and completed in 1736, and the Chapel of Saint Michael, commissioned in 1729 and decorated in the current French style. He brought numerous works of art back with him from France. [2] [3] [9] [10]

Johann Viktor and his brother Peter Joseph von Besenval (1675–1736) commissioned the construction of the Palais Besenval in Solothurn. [11]

A wedding with royal congratulations

On 18 September 1716, Johann Viktor married Katarzyna Bielińska (1684–1761), daughter of Kazimierz Ludwik Bieliński, a Polish noble, politician, and diplomat. She was also the sister of Maria Magdalena Bielińska, div. Gräfin von Dönhoff, who was the Maîtresse-en-titre of King Augustus II the Strong. A marriage, that was warmly welcomed by Philippe II de Bourbon, Duc d'Orléans, Régent de France (1715–1723), since Johann Viktor was the French ambassador to Poland at the time. [12] [13]

Peter Viktor von Besenval

Le Baron de Besenval dans son salon de compagnie at the Hotel de Besenval, by Henri-Pierre Danloux (1791). This iconic portrait of Peter Viktor, Baron von Besenval von Brunstatt, remained in the possession of his biological son Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Segur, until 1805. The painting is now part of the collections of the National Gallery in London. Besenval, baron de2.jpg
Le Baron de Besenval dans son salon de compagnie at the Hôtel de Besenval, by Henri-Pierre Danloux (1791). This iconic portrait of Peter Viktor, Baron von Besenval von Brunstatt, remained in the possession of his biological son Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur, until 1805. The painting is now part of the collections of the National Gallery in London.

Johann Viktor's son, Peter Viktor, Baron von Besenval von Brunstatt, a Swiss military officer in French service, was born at the castle in 1721. However, he lived most of his life in France, where he was known as Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, and where, in 1767, he bought the Hôtel Chanac de Pompaodur and made it his residence in Paris. Today, the hôtel particulier is knwon as Hôtel de Besenval. It has housed the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation and the residence of the Swiss ambassador to France since 1938. [15]

Peter Viktor rarely stayed in Switzerland anymore. The center of his life was in Paris. Due to his absence, he left the use of the Waldegg Castle to his cousin Johann Viktor Peter Joseph von Besenval (1742–1786) and his wife Maria Anna Margrit von Roll (1741–1814). Although, he wasn't often in Switzerland, Peter Viktor did, however, add an orangery, a so-called Pomeranzen-Hause, to the castle in 1780. [16]

The French Revolution: The beginning of the end of an era

The French Revolution of 1789 was disastrous to the family's influence, business interests, and wealth. Although, all the family members survived the terror of the French Revolution – Peter Viktor von Besenval spent several months in prison in Paris and only escaped death with a lot of luck –, their close ties to the French royal family and other high-ranking members of the Ancien Régime made life more and more difficult for them in France. [3]

Without a legitimate heir

After the death of Peter Viktor in 1791, who was in fact not childless, but had no legitimate heir, the Waldegg Castle, which was a Fidéicommis and could therefore only be passed on in the immediate family, went to the firstborn son of his cousin Johann Viktor Peter Joseph, the minor Urs Joseph Augustin von Besenval (1777–1831). [17]

The sale of the baron's furniture to the Swiss Confederation

On 19 May 1938, the Swiss Confederation purchased the Hôtel de Besenval in Paris as the country's new embassy building. In the same year, the Swiss Government bought from the patrician family von Sury, the then owners of the Waldegg Castle, a sofa and six chairs, covered in beige fabric and embroidered with scenes from the fables of Jean de La Fontaine, except for the sofa, which is covered with a pattern of flowers and birds.

According to oral tradition, the sofa and the six chairs once belonged to Peter Viktor von Besenval and were part of the furnishings of the Hôtel de Besenval. It is said that the baron sent these pieces of furniture, along with other pieces of furniture and art objects, to Switzerland shortly before the French Revolution. The furniture ensemble is now on display at the Hôtel de Besenval in the Salon de la tapisserie. [18] [19]

Josef von Sury von Bussy

Waldegg Castle, lithography, at around the time, when Josef von Sury von Bussy bought the estate. Zentralbibliothek Solothurn - CHATEAU DE WALDECK SOLEURE - a0749.tif
Waldegg Castle, lithography, at around the time, when Josef von Sury von Bussy bought the estate.

Josef von Sury von Bussy (1817–1887), who had been married to Charlotte de Besenval (1826–1885) since 26 June 1848, bought the castle on 6 February 1865 from the last members of the family von Besenval who were entitled to inherit the assets of the former Fidéicommis de Waldegg, which existed from 1684 to 1811, amongst others from Amédée de Besenval (1809–1899), his brother-in-law. With Amédée Victor Louis de Besenval (1862–1927), who lived in Naples, the main line of the family died out in 1927. [20] [21] [22] [23]

The new owner added two apartments and changed the Baroque garden into an English landscape garden. However, the alterations to the garden were reversed during subsequent renovations in the 1990s. [3]

Donation to the Canton of Solothurn

In 1963, the last private owners of the Waldegg Castle, the three children of Gaston von Sury von Bussy (1852–1931) and Anne de Reinach Hirtzbach, who married in 1880, Charles (1884–1973), Victor (1892–1978), and Marguerite (1883–1969), donated the Waldegg Castle to the Canton of Solothurn, also because there were no direct descendants left. In the same year, the castle estate was transferred to the Waldegg Castle Foundation and in 1975 it became the headquarters of the Center for Intercultural Dialogue, an organisation that fosters understanding between the different languages and cultures of Switzerland. In 1985, a comprehensive renovation programme was started that lasted 20 years. The castle museum opened in 1991. [24] [2] [3] [25]

Architecture: The castle and its surroundings

Johann Viktor, Baron von Besenval von Brunstatt. He initiated extensive renovation work at the Waldegg Castle. Portrayed by Nicolas de Largilliere in 1720. Jean Victor II, Baron de Besenval et du Saint-Empire (1671-1736), by Nicolas de Largilliere.jpg
Johann Viktor, Baron von Besenval von Brunstatt. He initiated extensive renovation work at the Waldegg Castle. Portrayed by Nicolas de Largillière in 1720.

The castle was built in the local Türmlihaus style – meaning a house with many towers, compared to its size – with clearly visible architectural influences from the French and the Italian Baroque.

In the first construction phase in the 17th century, the rectangular wing, the corps de logis, designed by an unknown architect, was built with three tower-like pavilions facing the garden, between each of which there is a three-axis building section with a crowning gable.

From 1689, after Johann Viktor P. Joseph von Besenval (1638–1713) was appointed Schultheiss of the Republic of Solothurn in 1688, long, single-floor galleries were added on both sides of the corps de logis, at the ends of which are corner turrets, a kind of small pavilions. At the beginning of the 18th century, these single-floor galleries were heightened by one floor. These first floor galleries were formerly used as loggias. Niches in the galleries house allegorical statues which were carved in 1683 by Johann Peter Frölicher (1662–1723). These statues originally adorned as free-standing figures the roof cornice of the two once single-floor galleries.

The coat of arms symbols of the family von Besenval can be seen in and around the castle. In the central axis of the corps de logis on the south façade, there is the coat of arms of the family von Besenval in stucco. And horseshoes, the symbols of the coat of arms of the Besenvals' Barony of Brunstatt, adorn the red and white shutters of the corps de logis. [27] [28]

Smaller than it actually seems: A façade castle

Waldegg Castle, engraving by Nicolas Perignon with dedication to Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval, around 1785. Zentralbibliothek Solothurn - VUE DU CHATEAU DE WALDECK PRES SOLEURE a Monsieur le Baron de Besenval grand Croix de lordre Royal et militaire de S Louis Lieutenant general des armees du Roi et Lieutenant Colonel du Reg - aa0160.tif
Waldegg Castle, engraving by Nicolas Perignon with dedication to Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval, around 1785.

The castle is also known as a façade castle or a coulisse castle because the two expanded wings of the building to the left and to the right of the corps de logis only consist of galleries with balusters, which serve as connecting corridors, leading to the corner turrets, the small pavilions. Originally these corner turrets had so-called imperial roofs (bulbous roofs). Behind the galleries with their large windows with usually closed shutters, however, there are no parts of the building. However, especially from a distance, these galleries make the castle appear much larger than it actually is. The façade clearly reflects the representative claim to power of its builder. All in all, the façade measures 78 meters. This makes it one of the longest castle façades in Switzerland. In contrast, the corps de logis is only 13.5 meters deep.

Behind the façade

The windows of the galleries provide a clear view of the rear courtyard of the building, the north side, with the less glamorous courtyard façade, where the farm buildings are also located, as well as one of the two chapels. This chapel was dedicated to Saint Michael in honour of Katarzyna Bielińska (1684–1761), the Polish wife of Johann Viktor von Besenval. [29]

Main hall and the salons

Waldegg Castle in the 18th century, by Emanuel Buchel. Zentralbibliothek Solothurn - WALDECK Ein Lust Schloss in der Gegend von Solothurn von Mittage anzsehen bekrontes Besenval Wappen VALDEC Maison de Plaisance dans les Environs de de sic Soleure du Cote de Midi - aa0162.tif
Waldegg Castle in the 18th century, by Emanuel Büchel.

The main hall has ten allegorical paintings of the Arts and Sciences and is decorated with supraporte and trompe-l'œil illusions. The eastern salon has a grisaille style ceiling painting while the west salon and the billiard room both have trompe-l'œil ceiling frescos, some of which are by the local artist Wolfgang Aeby (1638–1694). [2] [3]

Two chapels

The eastern turret houses the Castle chapel with a high-Baroque altar from 1720 and paintings by Wolfgang Aeby (1638–1694). The apostolic nuncio in 1686 and the bishop in 1690 gave the authorisation for the celebration of the Holy Mass in the Castle chapel, which is dedicated to Saint Maurice.

Chapel of Saint Michael

The second chapel, the Chapel of Saint Michael, commissioned by Johann Viktor von Besenval in 1729 and completed in 1734, features reproduction paintings – made in Paris, including the large gilded frames –, showing Saint Michael by Raphael and Saint Raphael by Domenico Fetti, the originals of which both hang in the Louvre. [3] [30] [9] [28] [31]

The completion of the Chapel of Saint Michael took forever. This is also because they were unlucky with the craftsmen. Johann Viktor von Besenval's brother, who supervised the construction work in his absence, reported to him:

"I am unlucky with the completion of the chapel and the chaplain's house. Because at that moment I found out that the bricklayer, with whom I signed the contracts to complete the work, had just thrown himself into the river and drowned."

— Letter from Pierre Joseph von Besenval (1675–1736) to his brother Johann Viktor, dated November 1732 [31]

Garden, park and allée

At around 1700, Johann Viktor P. Joseph von Besenval still carried out major transformations on the south side of the castle by replacing the panoramic platform of the parterre with a staircase and a fountain. He also planted an allée towards to road to Basel. The south portal also dates from this period. In 1705, Johann Viktor P. Joseph acquired a plot of forest from the authorities in order to expand his estate. He developed it into a baroque park and a formal garden. [32]

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References

  1. ↑ "Kantonsliste A-Objekte:GR". KGS Inventar (in German). Federal Office of Civil Protection. 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Waldegg in German , French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland .
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Soleure Solothurn : Le château Waldegg Schloss Waldegg". www.swisscastles.ch. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  4. ↑ Andreas Fankhauser: Besenval von Brunstatt, Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS), Version vom 23.06.2004, online, 2024
  5. ↑ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 44
  6. ↑ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 49
  7. ↑ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, pp. 102–103
  8. ↑ Andreas Affolter: Vom Schlachtfeld ins Audienzzimmer – Johann Viktor II. [P. Joseph] von Besenval (1671–1736), Solddienstoffizier und Diplomat im Dienste der französischen Krone, Vortragsmanuskript vom 25. November 2014 auf Schloss Waldegg, p. 2, basierend auf: Zitat nach Martin Gisi: Französische Schriftsteller in und von Solothurn. Eine historisch–litterarische Untersuchung, Solothurn, 1898, p. 64
  9. 1 2 Christian Renfer / Eduard Widmer: Schlösser und Landsitze der Schweiz, Ex Libris Verlag AG, Zürich, 1985, pp. 156–157
  10. ↑ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, pp. 104–105
  11. ↑ Stefan Blank: «Der allhiesigen Statt eine Zierd» – Zur Geschichte und Bedeutung des Palais Besenval in Solothurn. In: Andrea Nold (editor): Archäologische Ausgrabungen im Garten des Palais Besenval in Solothurn: Ein Quartier an der Aare vom Mittelalter bis in die Neuzeit. Solothurn: Amt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie, 2009, p.81–91. ISBN   978-3-9523216-3-8 (online)
  12. ↑ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Marriage de Jean Victor de Besenval et Katarzyna Bielińska et informations sur Kazimierz Ludwik Bieliński, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 98
  13. ↑ Genealogisch-historische Nachrichten von den allerneusten Begebenheiten, welche sich an den europäischen Höfen zutragen, Bogislaus Ernestus, Graf von Dönhoff. Der 97. Theil, des Verlegers Johann Samuel Heinsius, Leipzig, 1746, S. 796 (Ergänzungen).
  14. ↑ Sotheby's: The Baron de Besenval in his Salon de Compagnie – Danloux's last major portrait commission before he left France, Auction: Old Master Paintings, New York, 27 May 2004, lot 35. Est.: $1,000,000 – $1,500,000. Sold for $2,472,000. Provenance: Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval (1791) / Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur (1805) / Lieutenant-Général Charles-Louis, Marquis de Chérisey (1827) / François, Prince de Broglie (1930) / Amédée, Princesse de Broglie, née Beatrix, Princesse de Faucigny-Lucinge (1984) / with Stair Sainty Matthiessen where sold on 20 May 1986
  15. ↑ Jean-Jacques Fiechter / Benno Schubiger: L'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris, Ambassade de Suisse, 2ème édition, août 1994, p. 11
  16. ↑ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 144
  17. ↑ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 152
  18. ↑ Jean-Jacques Fiechter / Benno Schubiger: L'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris, Ambassade de Suisse, 2ème édition, août 1994, p. 21
  19. ↑ Visites privées: Les réceptions de l'ambassadeur – l'Ambassade de Suisse à Paris, Stéphane Bern (* 1963) et son équipe à l’Hôtel de Besenval (documentaire télévisé), 2016
  20. ↑ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 196
  21. ↑ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 198
  22. ↑ Kanton Solothurn: Familienarchiv Besenval neu im Staatsarchiv Solothurn, Medienmitteilung der Staatskanzlei, 27. Oktober 2022
  23. ↑ Thomas Wallner: Josef von Sury von Bussy, Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS), Version vom 03.12.2013, online, 2024
  24. ↑ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 197
  25. ↑ Christian Renfer / Eduard Widmer: Schlösser und Landsitze der Schweiz, Ex Libris Verlag AG, Zürich, 1985, p. 158
  26. ↑ Sotheby's: Nicolas de Largillièrre: Portrait of the Baron de Besenval (1671–1736) and Portrait of the Baronne de Besenval (1684–1761), the parents of Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval (1721–1791), The Courts of Europe, New York, 30 January 2014, lot 117. Est.: $120,000 – $160,000
  27. ↑ Christian Renfer / Eduard Widmer: Schlösser und Landsitze der Schweiz, Ex Libris Verlag AG, Zürich, 1985, p. 154
  28. 1 2 Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 71
  29. ↑ Christian Renfer / Eduard Widmer: Schlösser und Landsitze der Schweiz, Ex Libris Verlag AG, Zürich, 1985, p. 157
  30. ↑ "Schloss Waldegg". Federal Office of Civil Protection. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  31. 1 2 Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 104
  32. ↑ Gabrielle Claerr Stamm: De Soleure à Paris : La saga de la famille de Besenval, seigneurs de Brunstatt, Riedisheim et Didenheim, Société d'Histoire du Sundgau, 2015, p. 72

Further reading

The frontispiece of the first edition of the memoirs of Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, showing his portrait. The publication, published after his death, caused a scandal among the aristocracy since the baron did not hesitate to describe the life and the habits at the French royal court during the last years of the Ancien Regime in all its scandalous details by also naming the protagonists. The family de Besenval questioned the authenticity of the memoirs and distanced themselves from them. Memoiren Baron de Besenval Erstausgabe von 1805.jpg
The frontispiece of the first edition of the memoirs of Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, showing his portrait. The publication, published after his death, caused a scandal among the aristocracy since the baron did not hesitate to describe the life and the habits at the French royal court during the last years of the Ancien Régime in all its scandalous details by also naming the protagonists. The family de Besenval questioned the authenticity of the memoirs and distanced themselves from them.

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