Spiez Castle

Spiez Castle (German: Schloss Spiez) is a castle in the municipality of Spiez of the Swiss canton of Bern. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

According to Elogius Kiburger, the author of the Strättliger Chronicle, in 933 the King of Burgundy, Rudolph II, built the castle. Shortly thereafter, the Freiherr von Strättligen settled in the castle. Portions of the current castle curtain walls and main tower were built during the 12th century and by the 13th century, the town of Spiez existed outside the castle walls. By 1280 the castle was listed as an Imperial fief under Vogt Richard de Corbières. In 1289 the Freiherr von Strättligen was co-owner of the castle along with a succession of other noble families. In 1308 King Albert I of Habsburg was murdered at Windisch on the Reuss, by his nephew Duke John Parricida. As part of their retaliation for the murder, the Habsburgs withdrew half of the Spiez fief from Thüring von Brandis and granted the whole fief to Johannes von Strättligen. Thirty years later, in 1338, Johannes sold the castle, town, church, and surrounding villages to Johann II von Bubenberg who was the Schultheiss of Bern. By 1340, the Bubenberg-appointed vogt took orders from Bern but was obligated to raise troops for the Habsburgs. As Bern was de facto independent from their former overlords, the Habsburgs, this created an unstable situation that remained for over 40 years. After the Bernese and Swiss Confederation victory over the Habsburgs in the Battle of Sempach in 1386, the Habsburgs gave up their land claims west of the Aare, which included Spiez.

The castle and surrounding land remained with the Bubenberg family until their extinction in 1506 when it was acquired by Ludwig von Diesbach. Von Diesbach held it for ten years before Ludwig von Erlach acquired the castle and lands. The von Erlach family ruled the town and villages until the 1798 French invasion. After the invasion and the creation of the Helvetic Republic, the von Erlach family lost their land rights and jurisdiction over the village but retained ownership of the castle until 1875.

The old castle was expanded in several stages during the Late Middle Ages but little is known about the specific dates or what was changed. In 1600 the great hall and the northern buildings were expanded and renovated.

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

Spiez Castle ranks #2,856 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #25 of the 201 mapped in Switzerland. Founded 1200, it is older than 77% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 563 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,693 times in the last 60 days, more than 63% of the atlas. 14 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Bern, 34 km away. See how Switzerland compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗