Altes Schloss Bümpliz

The Altes Schloss Bümpliz (English: Old Bümpliz Castle) is a castle in the section of Bümpliz-Oberbottigen in the city of Bern of the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

The first structure on the site was a Burgundian royal estate which was built around 900. The estate is first mentioned by the Burgundian King Rudolf III around 1010, but he lists his father as the builder of the estate. Very little is known about this first castle, except that it consisted of a circular wooden wall with several wooden buildings inside the wall. Around 1260 or between 1250 and 1270 a round stone tower was built in the center of the site. This round tower was quite unusual for Bernese castles but may indicate a savoyard influence. Since Peter II of Savoy held authority over Bern at the time, it is likely, but not confirmed, that the round tower was built as a symbol of Savoy's power. The tower had an outer diameter of 9.3 m (31 ft) and a thickness of about 2 m (6.6 ft). It probably rose about 10–15 m (33–49 ft) high. The round tower no longer exists, but its location is marked with a cross on the floor of the current restaurant terrace. Shortly after the construction of the tower, the wooden wall was replaced with a stone wall and a half-round tower was added to protect the wall. The round central tower was demolished in the following decades. The growing Bernese power began to force Savoy out of Bümpliz and by the late 13th century, there were Bernese nobles who were naming themselves after their estates in Bümpliz. Under the Bernese nobles, the castle remained unchanged until 1470.

In 1470 Bümpliz village and the castle became part of the lands of the powerful Bernese patrician Erlach family. The castle was rebuilt from a purely defensive structure into an impressive administrative and residential castle. A new gatehouse tower was built, and stands, almost unchanged, today. The gatehouse tower was square and about 8.4 m (28 ft) on each side. It is 10 m (33 ft) high to the eaves, with an additional 7 m (23 ft) to the peak of the roof. The supports and structure of the drawbridge over the moat are still visible today. The gatehouse faces west. Next to the gatehouse, the south-west wall was raised and a block of rooms were added on the inside. Between the gatehouse and the south-west wing, a half-round tower, the Abortturm was built.

Text adapted from “Altes Schloss Bümpliz” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Altes Schloss Bümpliz ranks #7,203 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #180 of the 201 mapped in Switzerland. Founded c. 900, it is older than 94% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 65 atlas entries founded in the 9th century. 26 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Bern, 4 km away. See how Switzerland compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗