Regensberg Castle (Swiss German: Schloss Regensberg sometimes referred to Neu-Regensberg) is a hill castle which was built around the mid-13th century AD by the House of Regensberg in the Swiss municipality of Regensberg in the Canton of Zürich.
The small town of Regensberg was founded as a hilltop fortified settlement by Baron Lüthold of Regensberg around 1245. Oberburg is the location of the castle and the inner town which is surrounded by a town wall. The Oberburg or Oberstadt fortifications include also the 57 m (187 ft) deep water well. The Unterstadt was built outside of the town walls.
The fortifications include a 21 m (69 ft) high round tower dating from the 16th or 17th century and a 57 m (187 ft) deep water well. We will be visiting that shortly as we reach the fort. The church, originally dating from the 13th century, was rebuilt in 1506.
During the mid 13th Century relations between the Barons of Regensberg and the city of Zürich became strained. At about this same time, the barons had a disagreement with the Habsburgs over who would inherit the lands of the now extinct Kyburg family. These disputes led to a war in 1267, between the barons and the combined Zürich and Habsburg forces. The barons lost this war, and rapidly declined in power over the following half century. In 1302 the Barons sold Regensberg to the Habsburgs.
In 1409 the Habsburg duke Frederick IV had to pawn Regensberg to the city of Zürich. However it wasn't until 1417 that Regensberg was fully owned by Zürich.
Historic attractions include the half-timbered "Rote Rose" house dating from 1540.
In 1540 the upper castle burned down, but the lower gates and the donjon survived because they were separated from the upper castle by a deep ditch. The upper castle was rebuilt in the following year.
Regensberg was designed as a fortified castle town and built by then modern contemporary criteria. The so-called upper castle (Oberburg) comprises a rectangular plaza as main square which is surrounded two rows of houses, and into the limestone a 57 m (187 ft) deep water well was carved. The lower castle (Unterburg) or lower town (Unterstadt) was probably built in the 14th century nestled at the castle's hill outside of the town wall. Therefore, it was not involved in the modernization of the upper castle in 1689.
The round tower (German: Rundturm) is the only remnant of the mid-12th-century castle and is largely in its original state of construction. Atypical for the north-eastern Switzerland, it was built as a five-storey keep made of local limestone, with a wall thickness of 3 m (9.8 ft) and a diameter of 9 m (30 ft) at its basement. The unique architectural design as round tower is presumably a reminiscence by Lütold V to his wife noblewomen Berta de Neuchâtel; in her native western Switzerland round towers then were disseminated.[1]
Originally, the tower had an elevated entrance and a 11 m (36 ft) high spire roof which was destroyed by lightning in 1766. The tower then received its present completion battlements and a new bridge that connected it with the palace. In 1894 the current single-storey entrance was built and thereafter the tower became a popular tourist destination as a belvedere. A thorough renovation of the tower was done in 2009, and in its interior has a small exhibition on the history of the castle and town.
Palas and the tower
This is Situated in the north of the round tower, the palas also largely survived the devastating fire of 1540. In 1583 and 1585 it was replaced by Vogt Vogel by a three-story building, which largely corresponds to the today's northern palace wing. The area was surrounded by the economic structures – wash house, stables, gardens, chapel – and separated with a wall and a gate leading into the Oberstadt area. In 1883 a children's home has been set up in the former palas, and in 1890 the main building was widened and transformed into a school building which is now used by the Stiftung Schloss Regensberg foundation.
This trust foundation also own a huge organic farm and shop in the valley below.
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