Jegenstorf château

Jegenstorf Castle is a castle in the municipality of Jegenstorf of the Canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

The Lords of Jegistorf were first mentioned in the 12th century, in the service of the Dukes of Zähringen. They built the large square castle tower around that time. The original castle was probably surrounded by wooden walls. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the wooden walls were replaced with stone. In 1300, shortly before the Lords of Jegenstorf died out, the Erlach family acquired the herrschaft of Jegenstorf. However, the Jegistorf holdings had already been divided and the castle remained out of Erlach hands until the 14th or 15th century. Through a combination of political marriages and purchases, in 1519, Johann von Erlach (1474–1539) became the ruler of the castle, the village, the herrschaft and the Jegenstorf court. During the same year he also became the Schultheiss of Bern. It remained in Erlach hands until 1584. In 1584 it passed to the von Bonstetten family, who held it until 1675. It then went to the von Wattenwyl family who held it until 1720. In 1720 Albrecht Friedrich von Erlach bought the castle back. Under Albrecht Friedrich, the castle was expanded and renovated. The old tower was rebuilt as a baroque tower house and the castle converted into a country manor house.

In the 18th century the castle passed to the Stürler family. In 1765 Anton Ludwig Stürler sold the castle to his brother Johann Rudolf Stürler, who passed it on to his son Johann Rudolf in 1789. The castle was spared any damage during the 1798 French invasion. By 1812, however, Johann Rudolf was in financial difficulties and sold the castle to his cousin Rudolf Gabriel Stürler of Serraux. In 1913–1915 the house was renovated and modernized under Arthur Albert Vinzenz von Stürler. After the death of Arthur Albert Vinzenz in 1934, the castle was purchased by a preservation association.

On 9 October 1944 General Henri Guisan, the supreme commander of the Swiss Army, moved his command post from Interlaken to Jegenstorf. At the same time, much of the army's General Staff moved to Burgdorf. Guisan set up his command post in Jegenstorf castle. He was given two rooms in the castle in the south-west wing for his personal use.

Text adapted from “Jegenstorf Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Jegenstorf château ranks #5,095 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #70 of the 200 mapped in Switzerland. Founded 1200, it is older than 77% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 544 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. 20 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Bern, 12 km away. See how Switzerland compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗