Switzerland · 13th century
Brandis Castle or Maienfeld Castle is a castle in the municipality of Maienfeld of the Canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
The Maienfeld area was an important Roman era customs station on the road between Turicum (Zurich) and Brigantium (Bregenz). After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire the area probably remained a local population center and retained some of the Roman buildings and fortifications. During the High Middle Ages the Carolingian royal estate of curtis Lupinis was built in the area and the town of Maienfeld grew up around the castle. In the 10th century the Lords of Bregenz probably built a small fortified tower near or on the site of the current castle.
The castle was built in the 13th century for the Freiherr von Aspermont and was originally known as Maienfeld Castle. In 1282 Heinrich von Aspermont specified in his will that upon his death his brother, Egilolf, was to inherit the castle and the Herrschaft of Maienfeld. With his death only two years later, Egilolf inherited the castle in 1284. In 1295 he hosted a peace conference between the Bishop of Chur and the Freiherr von Vaz at the castle. In 1338 the Freiherr von Aspermont sold most of his estates in Graubünden, but retained Maienfeld. However, in 1342 it was owned by the Lord von Windegg. In 1355 they sold the castle to the Counts of Toggenburg for 5600 gulden. Oddly, four years later they paid the same price to buy Maienfeld from the Counts of Werdenburg-Sargans.
After 1359 the Toggenburg Counts began expanding the fortified tower into a larger residence castle. They regularly resided and held court in the castle. The last of the line, Frederick VII added a residential wing, the so-called Neue Schloss (New Castle), across the courtyard from the old castle. After his death in 1436, his widow, Elisabeth von Matsch, lived at Maienfeld for several months until it was inherited by the von Brandis and von Aarburg families. In the same year, Maienfeld joined the League of the Ten Jurisdictions which was founded to resist the influence of the Austrian Habsburgs. During the Old Zürich War over the Toggenburg inheritance, Wolfhart V von Brandis initially fought on the Schwyz-Glarus side, but switched to the Zürich-Habsburg side from 1444 to 1446.
Text adapted from “Brandis Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Brandis Castle ranks #7,891 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #172 of the 213 mapped in Switzerland. Founded c. 1250, it is older than 67% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. 15 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Winterthur, 82 km away. See how Switzerland compares in the castle statistics.
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