Waldegg Castle

Waldegg Castle, or Schloss Waldegg, is a castle near Solothurn, in the municipality of Feldbrunnen-St. Niklaus of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

The Baroque castle was built between 1682 and 1686 as a summer house for the Schultheiss Johann Viktor P. Joseph von Besenval (1638–1713) and his wife Maria Margaritha, née von Sury (1649–1713). Over time, the Waldegg Castle, together with the Palais Besenval, developed into one of the main residences of the family von Besenval.

The family Besenval was originally from Torgnon in the Aosta Valley. They had risen socially in the service of King Louis XIV and had received a title of baron (Reichsfreiherr) of the Holy Roman Empire from Emperor Leopold I in 1695. Furthermore, already in February 1655, Martin von Besenval (1600–1660), Johann Viktor P. Joseph's father, was ennobled by King Louis XIV and raised to knighthood in 1658 in gratitude for his merit for the French Crown. And on 11 August 1726, King Louis XV elevated the von Besenval family's possession of Brunstatt in the Alsace to a French barony. The culmination of the family's ennoblement was the elevation of Martin Louis de Besenval (1780–1853) to the rank of comte by King Charles X on 18 March 1830.

The letters of nobility extended to his descendants. Some members of the family also adopted the French spelling of the name, de Besenval. However, the Besenvals' loyalty to the French Crown was also rewarded financially, as reflected in a remark by the French ambassador in Solothurn in 1709 that later became legendary:

"Were the king able to buy a man such as Besenval in every canton, France might reckon upon the [Swiss] Confederation as upon its own kingdom."

The French money was a welcome financial boost for the construction of the Waldegg Castle.

The Besenvals became rich through the salt trade and the mercenary business with France. A mechanism that was common among mercenary patricians soon set in: Because the Besenvals had influence in their own town, they became important for foreign powers – and because they were valued abroad, their power in turn grew in their own town.

Johann Viktor P. Joseph's son Johann Viktor, Baron von Besenval von Brunstatt, was a diplomat and colonel in the regiment of the Swiss Guards of France. After he inherited the Waldegg Castle in 1713, he had it renovated.

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

Waldegg Castle ranks #5,662 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #79 of the 201 mapped in Switzerland. Founded 1682, it is older than 24% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 626 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. 10 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Bern, 32 km away. See how Switzerland compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗