Aarburg Castle
Encyclopedia
Municipalities of Switzerland
Communes , also known as municipalities, are the smallest government division in Switzerland, numbering 2,596 . While many have a population of a few hundred citizens, the largest cities such as Zürich or Geneva also have the legal status of municipalities...
of Aarburg
Aarburg
Aarburg is a municipality in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.The small town lies in the southwest Aargau at an Engnis Aare in the lower Wiggertal. It lies in the intersection of the most important traffic routes of Switzerland...
in the canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of Aargau
Aargau
Aargau is one of the more northerly cantons of Switzerland. It comprises the lower course of the river Aare, which is why the canton is called Aar-gau .-History:...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. It is located high above the Aarburg on a steep, rocky hillside. The castle was built around a medieval
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
, which controlled the narrow point on the Aare river and served as the seat of Aarburg Vogt
Vogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...
. It is classified as a Swiss heritage site of national significance
Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...
.. Today it houses the Kantonale Jugendheim, for holding and rehabilitating juvenile offenders.
History
The exact year of construction of the castle is not known. The building was mentioned at the beginning of the 13th Century, in the possession of the Counts of Frohburg. The Vogtei (a bailiffBailiff
A bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed...
or vogt was an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice (Blutgericht
Blutgericht
Blood Court or high justice in the Holy Roman Empire referred to the right of a Vogt to hold a criminal court inflicting bodily punishment, including the death penalty.Not every Vogt held the blood court...
) over a certain territory, the Vogtei) was created to better control and monitor the important north-south trade route over the Aare River. Together with the Vogt's seat, the high court
High, middle and low justice
High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judiciary power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents....
was also held at the castle. The administration area included the western part of today's District Zofingen
Zofingen (district)
Zofingen District is a district in the Swiss canton of Aargau. It is located in the southwest corner of the Canton. The seat is Zofingen. The largest municipality in population is Oftringen, the smallest is Wiliberg. It has a population of ....
, but without the city of Zofingen
Zofingen
Zofingen is a city in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of Zofingen. Zofingen is a walled city and home of an ancient monastic settlement.-Geography:...
. In 1299 the Frohburgs sold the castle and the entire Vogtei to the Habsburgs. After about 1330 the Family von Kriech, a lower nobility family in the service
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
of the Habsburgs, lived in the castle.
On 20 April 1415, the castle fell after a brief siege by the town of Bern. The Bernese took over the lower and the high court. Starting in 1416 a Bernese bailiff resided in the castle. The bailiff managed the entire Bernese Aargau. Only later, once Bern had suppressed the rights of the nobility and the clergy, additional bailiwicks were added: Lenzburg
Lenzburg
Lenzburg is a town in the central region of the Swiss canton Aargau and is the capital of the district of the same name. The town, founded in the Middle Ages, lies in the Seetal valley, about 3 kilometres south of the Aare river. Lenzburg and the neighbouring municipalities of Niederlenz and...
(1442), Schenkenberg
Schenkenberg Castle
Schenkenberg castle is a castle ruin above the municipality of Thalheim in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It was built in the 13th Century by the Habsburg dynasty, was the administrative seat for 260 years of a bailiwick of the city of Bern and fell into ruin in the 18th century.-Location:The...
(1460), Biberstein
Biberstein
Biberstein is a municipality in the district of Aarau of the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.-Geography:Biberstein is located on the north bank of the Aar River near Aarau. The town is a 17 minute bus ride from downtown Aarau. The neighboring communities are Auenstein to the east, Küttigen to the...
(1499) Zofingen
Zofingen
Zofingen is a city in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of Zofingen. Zofingen is a walled city and home of an ancient monastic settlement.-Geography:...
(1528), Königsfelden
Königsfelden Abbey
Königsfelden Abbey is a former Franciscan monastery and former Clarisse convent in the municipality of Windisch in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It was founded in 1308 by the Habsburgs and during the Reformation in 1528 it was secularized. The complex was then the residence of the bailiffs...
(1528) and Kasteln
Schloss Kasteln
Kasteln Castle is a castle in the municipality of Oberflachs in Canton Aargau, Switzerland. It is located west of the village on a rocky outcrop, surrounded by vineyards and woods. Today, it serves as a boarding school for students with behavioral problems...
(1732).
The castle was extended in several stages, the first was the rebuilding of the palace in 1470 mentioned. Subsequent modifications in the 16th century (1534/35) and especially in 17th Century (1621, 1659–1673) led to the creation of the huge baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
structure. Its purpose was to protect the connection between the Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
towns of Bern and Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
at the narrowest point of the Bernese dominion and thus complicate any attacks from Catholic neighbors. From 1666, the fortress was occupied continuously by a garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
, the Governor was now at the same commander. One part of the fortress served as a prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, especially for political prisoners. The best known prisoner is Jacques-Barthélemy Micheli du Crest
Jacques-Barthélemy Micheli du Crest
Jacques-Barthélemy Micheli du Crest was a Genevan military engineer, physicist and cartographer. Born into the aristocracy, he eventually fled to France as an enemy of Geneva and eventually spent his later years in Aarburg Castle as a political prisoner. During his time there, he mapped the Alps...
. On 10 March 1798, the castle fell without a fight to the French Army.
In 1804, the newly created Cantont of Aargau took over the castle. Initially it served as an arsenal and barracks, then from 1826 to 1864 as a prison before it was left abandoned. The Cantonal Parliament decided in 1891 to establish an "institution for juvenile criminals and scoundrels" in the castle. Opened in 1893, compulsory education institution was the first of its kind in Switzerland. In 1917 the building was extended. Initially the system focused mainly on discipline, order and punishment. Then, in the 1930s, the governing philosophy shifted more toward education and reform. From 1946 to 1959 the center was completely remodeled and a second total renovation happened from 1982 to 1988. In 1972, the name was changed from "Reform Institution" to "Education Home", then in 1989 it became the "Youth Home" to reflect the changing objectives.
Buildings
On the narrow, elongated ridge, the core of the castle was built. This core consisted of a keepKeep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
and a tower house
Tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...
from the 13th Century. The keep's walls are 3 to 3.5 m (9.8 to 11.5 ft) thick, and consist entirely of limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. The bottom floor has been carved directly from the rock. The tent-like roof
Roof
A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a building. A roof protects the building and its contents from the effects of weather. Structures that require roofs range from a letter box to a cathedral or stadium, dwellings being the most numerous....
was built in 1557. In 1621/22 the castle grew toward the south, with an additional living area and stair tower. On the northeast and west side are the large, heavily fortified buildings. The cell block on the south side was replaced in 1954/55 by a house for the educational staff, but it was built in harmony with the historic buildings.