Alt Homberg Castle

47°29′28″N 7°58′23″E / 47.491056°N 7.972999°E / 47.491056; 7.972999TypeRuined castleSite informationConditionPortions visibleSite historyBuiltaround 1100

Alt Homberg Castle is a ruined castle in the municipality of Wittnau in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. The castle is classified as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.^[1]

History

Alt Homberg was built around 1100 for the Counts of Homberg on a triangular hilltop north of the village of Wittnau.^[2] The first recorded Count of Homberg, Rudolf, appears in a record in 1082 when he married Ita von Habsburg. In 1225 the Homberg line died out and the castle was inherited by the Counts of Frohburg. Over the following years a cadet line of the Frohburg family took the name Neu-Homberg and established a new castle Neu-Homburg near Läufelfingen. In 1323 the last Count of Neu-Homberg, Werner III, died and the castle was inherited by Countess Maria von Oettingen. She sold it on 8 August 1351 to Duke Albrecht of Austria for 400 Marks. On 18 October 1356 the castle was destroyed in the Basel earthquake.^[3] After the earthquake the chapel and portions of the castle were quickly rebuilt, but by 1486 it was recorded as the barren castle of Weitnauw.^[4] The castle was excavated in 1882-84. Many of the artifacts, dating from the 11th to 15th centuries, are on display in the Historical Museum of Lenzburg Castle.

References

^ "Kantonsliste A-Objekte: Aargau". KGS Inventar (in German). Federal Office of Civil Protection. 2009. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
^ Alt-Homberg in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
^ Alt-Homberg Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine from Swiss Heritage Archived 2016-12-05 at the Wayback Machine accessed 13 December 2016
^ Swiss Castles.ch - Alt Homburg accessed 13 December 2016