Attinghausen Castle

Geschichte

Attinghausen Castle is a ruined medieval castle in the municipality of Attinghausen in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.HistoryThe first castle was built before 1100 on a hill in the middle of the village of Attinghausen. About the first owners of the castle virtually nothing is known. They were probably knights in the service of the Counts of Zähringen and they may have used the name von Attinghausen. By the 13th century, the original owners are gone from the castle and the von Schweinsberg family owned it, possibly through Ulrich von Schweinsberg marrying a daughter of the original Attinghausens. The original castle was probably a Motte-and-bailey castle which spread across the hill top.The Freiherr von Schweinsberg first appears in documents in the 13th century at Wartenstein Castle in the Bernese Emmental. But a branch of the family was in Uri by the mid 13th century and occupied the castle, sometimes adopting the castle's name as their family name. Though they also built Schweinsberg Castle a short distance north of Attinghausen. By 1300 there were two branches, one under Werner II who held the lands in Uri and another under Diethelm I in the Berner Oberland. The Uri branch of the family is traditionally believed to have been critical supporters of the Three Forest Cantons and the early Swiss Confederacy. Werner II and his son Johann were the Landammann of Uri from 1294 until 1358/59. It is unknown what role, if any, Werner played at the Battle of Morgarten in 1315, but in 1339 Johann led the army of Uri at the Battle of Laupen.