Jagdburg Castle: A Medieval Hill Castle in Switzerland
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 3.7
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Switzerland
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page5 sections
History
Origins and the lordship of Stocken
Jagdburg Castle is a hilltop castle in Höfen, Switzerland, broadly dated to the 12th century. In 1273, Heinrich freed the three sons he had fathered with Lütgard of Uebeschi, who was a serf. He probably established the small castle and lordship of Stocken for his son Berthold.
Before 1309, the dukes of Austria granted Jagdburg to Heinrich von Wädenswil, provost of Amsoldingen, as a fief, land held under feudal obligations. The castle lay within the territory of Amsoldingen’s collegiate chapter, a community of clergy called canons attached to a church. Its lands included the present-day villages of Amsoldingen, Höfen, Oberstocken, and Niederstocken.
Before 1331, the canons objected to a court being held at the castle, since the Amsoldingen court had authority to hear cases. The protest probably failed. Berthold secured the Stocken Valley, with its manorial rights and court jurisdiction, as the lordship of Stocken. In 1363, his son Heinrich received the castle fief and probably the lordship as well.
Transfer and abandonment
The lordship continued after the collegiate chapter was dissolved in 1484–1485 and remained with the family until 1492. The family thereafter used the name von Amsoldingen. That year, Hans Duby, town clerk of Thun, bought the lordship and castle. Bern, as territorial lord, then dissolved the lordship and assigned it to the Amsoldingen court.
The castle fief and a smaller surrounding territory continued separately, passing to Jakob von Wattenwyl in 1554. Jagdburg was abandoned from 1642 and subsequently fell into ruin. The remains now form part of the Amsoldingen castle estate, which developed from the former collegiate buildings.
Remains
Layout and residential tower
The hill castle stands on an oval knoll north of and above Niederstocken, in the Höfen district of Stocken-Höfen in the Canton of Bern. Its surviving fabric includes parts of an outer bailey, a subsidiary area beyond the main stronghold, wall fragments, and several storeys of a rectangular residential tower. Tree-ring dating places the tower’s construction in 1285–1293, and investigations in 2010–2011 found it was built in a single campaign. The remains suggest a ground floor and probably two or three upper storeys. The lowest level likely served as a cellar and retains five narrow slit windows resembling loopholes. Impressions show where beams for the floor above were set. A stair shaft was identified, while the raised entrance is on the east side. The surviving windows have arched masonry heads and sills on their interior sides.
