Old château

Riggisberg Castle (German: Schloss Riggisberg) is a castle in the municipality of Riggisberg of the canton of Bern in Switzerland.

During the Middle Ages the Fribourg noble family of Riggisberg was established with a seat in Riggisberg. The first one that appears in a historical record is Constantin de Rucasperc in 1140. His grandson Jacob Riggisberg established the Franciscan monastery in Fribourg on 15 May 1256 and was probably living in the city by that time. The family soon lost or sold all their rights and land in the village and by the 13th century other nobles and monasteries owned parts of the village. In 1337 the Riggisberg line died out and their remaining estates passed on to other owners.

The castle was acquired by Rudolf and Hans von Diesbach who then sold it to Jonatha von Billingen and her husband Jordan von Burgistein. The estate was then divided between his descendants and in 1345-46 was divided between Petermann von Burgistein and his sister Agnes. When Agnes married Peterman von Wichtrach in 1354, he acquired her half of the castle and estates. In 1362-63 he bought the other half of the estate from Petermann von Burgistein's sons, Konrad and Petermann von Burgistein. By 1358 Rudolph of Neuchâtel-Nidau owned the high court rights over the Herrschaft that included the castle, the village of Riggisberg, scattered farms and the courts of Riggisberg and Ruti. He granted Petermann von Wichtrach the full Zwing und Bann rights over the village on 28 September 1358. Peter's daughter and heiress Elizabeth von Wichtrach married Walther von Erlach in 1387, bringing the castle and lands to the powerful Bernese Erlach family for over 400 years.

The castle remained with the Erlach family, but was inherited by various cousins and relatives over the following centuries. In 1686, Hans Rudolf von Erlach lost the rights to the castle due to a judgement of the court. The castle was sold to Gabriel von Wattenwyl and on 17 November 1686 he became the Schultheiss and owner of Riggisberg. Four months later he sold the estate and title to Albrecht von Erlach and the estate came back under the Erlach name. Around 1700 Albrecht decided to build a new, more comfortable castle near the First or Long Castle.

The Long Castle remained in use for centuries afterward, but its importance waned.

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

Old château ranks #6,924 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #185 of the 200 mapped in Switzerland. Founded 1700, it is older than 22% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 580 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. 25 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Bern, 16 km away. See how Switzerland compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗