Grimmenstein Castle - History, Myths and Legends - Rhine Valley - Castles of Switzerland
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- čas přidán 22. 10. 2021
- #castle #castleruins #robberbarons #medievaltimes #RhineValley
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The ruins of Grimmenstein Castle are located above St. Margrethen in the Rhine Valley in Switzerland. At times it was owned by robber barons. George II even instigated a war in southern Germany.
We tell the thrilling history of the castle in 6 minutes.
Available subtitles: English 🇬🇧🇺🇸 / German 🇩🇪 /French 🇫🇷 / Italian 🇮🇹 / Spanish 🇪🇸 / Portuguese 🇵🇹
The castle on Google Maps: goo.gl/maps/gZEsAcPZ89C7J4qC6
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Above St. Margrethen lie the ruins of Grimmenstein Castle. At times it was in the possession of feared robber barons, who put the area in fear and terror.
But one after the other...
The castle was built in the course of the 13th century. In 1254, Konrad von Falkenstein was the first person to name himself von Grimmenstein. Shortly before, he seems to have received the dominion as a fief from the monastery of St. Gallen. The abbot of the monastery was Berchtold von Falkenstein.
Konrad's mission was to protect the possessions of the monastery in the Rhine valley from the Counts of Montfort and Werdenberg.
The castle consisted of a mighty residential tower, at least four stories high, which was accessible through a high entrance, residential and farm buildings, as well as a courtyard in which the cistern was also located.
Shortly before 1315, the last descendant of Konrad, Knight Heinrich, died and the fief reverted to the monastery.
Thereupon Abbot Heinrich von Ramstein transferred the castle to Baron Wilhelm von Enne. The latter had just been expelled by the Habsburgs from his ancestral castle near Montan in South Tyrol.
Now warlike times dawned. The new lords of Grimmenstein fought alongside the Counts of Bregenz against the Knights of Rosenberg and Baldegg. In the course of the conflicts, Grimmenstein is said to have been quite devastated.
But this did not seem to deter the lords of the castle from further feuds. Also in the following decades they often took up the sword. When they clashed with the Counts of Montfort, who were supported by the Habsburgs, the Duke of Austria intervened. In 1361 he besieged the castle with his army and conquered it.
The lord of the castle, William III, got his property back, but only on the condition that he swear allegiance to Habsburg from then on.
In 1405, however, he lost the castle again. In the course of the Appenzell wars, troops of the city of St. Gallen marched in front of Grimmenstein, captured the knight and his wife and destroyed the castle.
In 1408 King Ruprecht and the Swabian nobility intervened in the conflict and the Barons of Enne regained the castle.
The new lords of the castle Wilhelm IV and Georg II soon spread fear and terror. After the castle was rebuilt, the brothers acted as robber barons and robbed merchants. This led to warlike conflicts with the towns on Lake Constance. In 1416 they attacked a merchant ship. As a result, George II was arrested in Constance. His servant was drowned in the lake as he fled. Grimmenstein Castle was set on fire by angry citizens and thoroughly razed.
George II then went to Poland to fight for the Teutonic Knights. But soon he returned to take revenge on the city of Constance. In 1425, he kidnapped several citizens to Hoh-Rappoltstein Castle in Alsace to extort a ransom.
This was one of the triggers that led to the war between cities and nobility in southern Germany. This lasted until 1430 and George II played an important role in it. He died in 1436.
Meanwhile, Grimmenstein remained a ruin and decayed more and more.
From 1936 to 1938 the remains of the castle were excavated and secured. Numerous finds testify to its violent destruction. Among other things, numerous arrowheads were found.
Today, the ruins are a popular excursion and hiking destination in the region.
Sehr schönes Video! Macht bitte weiter so! 😊
Vielen herzlichen Dank für das tolle Kompliment. =)
so beautiful..and interesting
Thank you very much for the compliment. We do our best to create interesting content. :)
Another very informative video. I like the multiple perspectives. Must visit all these castles!
Thank you very much for the nice compliment Tolis. We're glad you enjoy our videos. =)
Quite imposing sitting on the hilltop, enjoyed watching this, thanks for sharing :D
You're welcome. We're glad you enjoyed the video. Thank you very much for watching. =)
I had some documentation of the Grimmenstein name going back, associated with that castle, to the year 980. Do you know more information before where you started in 1254?
Wow! That is very interesting. =) What exactly does your documentation contain? Unfortunately, it is not known exactly when this castle was built. However, as mentioned in the video, it is said to have been built only in the 13th century. There is no evidence before that. Are you sure that your documentation refers to this castle?
There are several other castles which bear the name Grimmenstein. Two in Germany (Hesse / Thuringia), one in Austria (Lower Austria) and another in Switzerland (Canton Bern). However, none of these is so old that it dates back to the year 980. All castles were built between the 11th and 13th centuries.