Switzerland · 12th century
Tschanüff Castle is a ruined castle in the former municipality of Ramosch (now Valsot) of the Canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
The Lords of Ramosch first appear in historical records in the 12th century. They were vassals of the Bishop of Chur and the Lords of Tarasp. The oldest part of the castle is the main tower, which was built as a bergfried (a fighting tower without permanent inhabitants) in the 12th century for the Lords of Ramosch. A ring wall was added in the 13th century. On 12 March 1256 Count Meinhard of Tyrol granted the knight Nannes of Ramosch the right to build a castle at Ramosch. Since there was already a fortification, this permission was probably to expand the small tower into a much larger castle. The new castle allowed the Ramosch family to control trade and taxes throughout the Lower Engadine.
On 19 August 1317 Nannes and his brother Johannes split the fief into two shares. The successors of Johannes, Conrad, and Schweiker, quarreled with each other over their inheritance. The conflict grew until in 1365 Duke Leopold of Austria was forced to intervene. The agreement between the brothers stated that they both accepted the Dukes of Austria as their overlord, the castle was to remain open to the Dukes and if they quarreled again the castle and surrounding lands would become the property of Austria. Despite the severe conditions, Conrad and Schweiker quickly began fighting again and in 1367 Schweiker murdered Conrad and fled Tschanüff. As a sign of appreciation for his service in an Austrian war in Italy, the Duke appointed Ulrich of Matsch as the owner of Tschanüff. The Matsch family took possession of the castle on 17 February 1369.
The Bishop of Chur also had a claim on the castle and fearing Austria's growing influence in the region, began reasserting his claim. In 1394 Bishop Hartmann forced the Lords of Matsch to give up the castle. However, in the following year, Matsch attacked and plundered the castle but retreated when the Bishop led an army toward Ramosch. In 1421 a peace treaty gave the castle to the Bishop and the Lords of Matsch were paid 2500 marks for their losses. The Bishops then appointed vogts to rule over the valley for the following centuries. In 1468 the castle was attacked by the League of God's House during a conflict with the Bishop.
Text adapted from “Tschanüff Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Tschanüff Castle ranks #4,188 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #43 of the 213 mapped in Switzerland. Founded c. 1150, it is older than 80% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 756 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Innsbruck, 91 km away. It is one of the 26 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Graubünden. See how Switzerland compares in the castle statistics.
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