Location: Lenzburg, Canon of Aargau Map
Constructed: 11th century
Lenzburg Castle (also: the Lenzburg) is located above the old
town of Lenzburg in the canton of Aargau. It is one of the oldest
and most important hilltop castles in Switzerland. The complex
stands on the 508 meter high Schlossberg, an almost circular molasse
hill that rises around a hundred meters above the surrounding plain.
The name of the castle comes from the Counts of Lenzburg, who
probably had their ancestral home built on the hill in the early
11th century. From 1173 the castle was owned by the Staufers, from
around 1230 by the Kyburgers and from 1273 by the Habsburgs. After
the city of Bern conquered Aargau in 1415, the castle served as the
seat of the Bernese governors for over three and a half centuries
until it came into the possession of the canton of Aargau in 1804.
It then housed an educational institute and was privately owned from
1860. In 1956, a foundation supported by the canton and the city of
Lenzburg bought the castle from the widow of the American polar
explorer Lincoln Ellsworth and made it open to the public.
The complex at the top of the hill is surrounded by a curtain wall
and consists of seven buildings that were built between the 12th and
early 18th centuries. They are arranged in a horseshoe shape around
an inner courtyard. The predominant architectural styles are Gothic
and Baroque. After comprehensive renovation was completed, the
castle has been the home of the Aargau Historical Museum since 1987,
which in turn has been part of the Aargau Museum Association since
2007. The living culture of the former castle residents, the
historical collections of the canton of Aargau and temporary
exhibitions on art and cultural history are presented. A foundation
supported by the canton and the city of Lenzburg is responsible for
maintenance. Another foundation and an association organize numerous
events.
The castle is located immediately east of the old town of Lenzburg on the flat top of the Schlossberg (508 m above sea level). This rises around a hundred meters above the level of the lower lake valley, but its diameter is only just under 250 meters. The striking hill is surrounded by flat terrain to the north, west and south. In the east it slopes down to a saddle around 460 meters high, which separates it from the neighboring Goffersberg (507 m above sea level), which is almost the same height. Geologically speaking, both surveys are rare examples of molasse round humps in Switzerland. At its base, the Schlossberg consists of horizontal, relatively easily weathered marls and soft sandstones from the lower freshwater molasse. In the uppermost area it consists of hard shell sandstone from the upper sea molasse, with the rock partly overhanging. The hill got its shape during the Rift Ice Age.
The Schlossberg could have served as a settlement site in prehistoric
times. In 1959, during construction work for a water reservoir on the
saddle between Schlossberg and Goffersberg, one of the largest burial
grounds in Switzerland from the Neolithic Age (approx. 3000 BC) was
discovered. Investigations by the cantonal archeology of Aargau between
1981 and 1986 uncovered a cultural layer up to 2.5 m thick that extends
across the entire castle area. However, the dating of structural remains
remains uncertain. Only a prehistoric hearth, a Roman brick fill and a
high medieval wooden house from the 11th century were found. The oldest
artifacts are an undetermined flint implement and a fragmented stone ax,
both from the Neolithic period. Numerous ceramic finds indicate
settlement during the Bronze Age. The Roman finds date from the 1st and
2nd centuries and are related to the neighboring Vicus Lindfeld. There
may have been a hilltop sanctuary here.
A legend says that a
dragon once lived in a cave on the Schlossberg. This was defeated by two
knights, Wolfram and Guntram. The grateful farmers elected the two
Counts of Lenzburg and gave them permission to build a castle on the
Drachenfelsen.
The first reliably verifiable member of the Lenzburg family is Ulrich
I, also known as “the rich”. He was imperial bailiff of Zurich and
bailiff of the Beromünster and Schänis abbeys. A document from 1036
describes him as Count in Aargau. The first reliable knowledge of the
existence of a castle dates back to 1077: Ulrich III, his grandson,
sided with the German King Henry IV in the investiture dispute and held
two papal legates for six months. At that time, the Counts of Lenzburg
were among the most important feudal lords in the Swiss plateau and
maintained close relationships with the respective German rulers.
The noble family died out in 1173. Ulrich IV, the last Count of
Lenzburg, named Emperor Friedrich I (“Barbarossa”) as his personal heir
in his will. They had been friends and had once gone on the Second
Crusade together. The emperor personally regulated the distribution of
the inheritance at Lenzburg Castle and awarded a large part of the land
to his son, Count Palatine Otto I of Burgundy. After Otto's death in
1200, the Staufers were pushed out of Aargau. The Lenzburg came to the
Kyburgers through marriage around 1230 via two close aristocratic
families (Andechs-Meranien and Chalon). At that time, they founded a
fortified market settlement at the western foot of the Schlossberg,
today's town of Lenzburg.
Hartmann IV, the last Count of Kyburg,
died in 1264 without male descendants. Rudolf I, Count of Habsburg and
later German king, took over the guardianship of the underage heiress
Anna of Kyburg, which also included the administration of the territory.
Anna later married Rudolf's cousin Eberhard I of Habsburg-Laufenburg. In
1273, Rudolf purchased the property from his impoverished relative for
14,000 silver marks. Two years later he held a court day at the
Lenzburg. Various dukes of Austria and their officials ruled from here.
However, the castle declined into a regional administrative seat as the
Habsburgs' power shifted more and more to Austria. Duke Friedrich II of
Habsburg lived in the castle from 1339. His wedding to Joan, the
daughter of the English King Edward III, was to take place here. For
this purpose he had the knight's house built. The Duke died in 1344
without ever seeing his future bride. The work on the knight's house
remained unfinished.
The Ribi-Schultheiss family, originally from
Seengen and rising from the peasant class to the lower nobility, owned
the castle fiefdom from 1369 onwards. In 1375 the castle withstood a
siege by the Guglers.
The latent tensions between the German King Sigismund and the
Austrian Duke Frederick IV erupted at the Council of Constance in 1415,
when Frederick helped one of the three reigning popes at the time, John
XXIII, escape from the city. Sigismund saw this as an opportunity to
harm his opponent. On March 30, 1415, he called on the Habsburg
neighbors to take their lands in the name of the empire. Bern didn't
take long to conquer the western part of the Aargau (later known as the
Bernese Aargau). On April 20th, the town of Lenzburg immediately
surrendered to the advancing army, but the castle remained untouched for
the time being. Konrad von Weinsberg, the royal governor, tried to
secure the castle for the empire and had it equipped for a siege. But in
August he abandoned this hopeless plan and handed the castle back over
to the Ribi-Schultheiss family in 1418. After long negotiations, Bern
was able to acquire the lower sovereign rights over the county of
Lenzburg in 1433 and also the castle in 1442.
In 1444, the first
Bernese bailiff moved into the castle and administered the Lenzburg
Oberamt from here. This included the Seetal, the Wynental and the
Suhrental. The remit of the bailiffs included collecting taxes,
enforcing administrative measures, judicial and police powers and
military command. They were also responsible for the maintenance of the
castle. The bailiffs were each elected for four years from the ranks of
the Grand Council of the City of Bern. The most famous was Adrian I of
Bubenberg from 1457 to 1461, later mayor of Bern and hero of the Battle
of Murten. Extensive work was carried out in 1509 and 1510; So the
knight's house, which had been started in 1339, was partially demolished
and rebuilt. In 1518 a major fire raged, although it is not known which
houses were destroyed (most likely the “Aarburghaus” on the north side).
In 1520 the bailiff received a new dwelling, the “Landvogtei”.
After the Reformation was introduced in Bern in 1528, the strategic
importance of the Lenzburg increased because the castle was close to the
denominational border and attacks by the Catholic Lucerners from the
Free Offices were feared. During the First Kappel War of 1529 and the
Second Kappel War two years later, the castle served as a base of
operations for the Reformed. It then served as an important border
fortress, as the nearby crossings over the Reuss could be controlled
from here.
In 1624, Joseph Plepp, commissioned by fortress
engineer Valentin Friderich, drew the first exact representations and
floor plans of the castle, which at that time looked more like a
fortified farm. Plepp's plans served as the basis for the modernization
of the fortifications. In view of the Thirty Years' War, which had been
raging since 1618, Bern felt compelled to make the Lenzburg suitable for
artillery use. The first measure in 1625 was to create a double gate
complex with a kennel on the north side, and the earth embankments on
the east and south sides were increased. In 1628, Frideric planned to
build several bastions, but the project could not be carried out due to
a lack of money. A resized project by Niklaus Willading, however, came
about when an eleven meter high wall was built between 1642 and 1646.
However, the resulting eastern bastion had a major disadvantage:
rainwater seeped through the adjacent walls and made the bailiwick
uninhabitable due to constant moisture. For this reason, a new bailiwick
was built in the northern wing between 1672 and 1674.
In the 18th
century, the people of Bern expanded the castle into a large grain
warehouse. For this purpose, the “Back House” received an additional
wing in 1705/07. In 1728/29 the tower and knight's house were connected.
In 1758 the knight's house received five intermediate floors for maximum
use of space as well as additional hatches and windows for better
ventilation. With these measures, over 5,000 tons of grain could be
stored. In March 1798, Viktor von Wattenwyl, the last governor of Bern,
handed the castle over to the advancing French troops when the previous
political order collapsed. The castle served as a military hospital for
a few months before the sick soldiers were moved to Königsfelden.
The canton of Aargau, founded in 1803, came into possession of the
castle on June 5, 1804. The cantonal authorities were undecided as to
how the facility should be used. There was a lack of money for
maintenance and there was no specific use for it. Use for government
purposes was out of the question for this symbol of subject rule, so the
castle stood empty for over two decades. In 1810, the Schaffhausen organ
builder Johannes Heinrich Speissegger wanted to lease part of the
castle, but the cantonal government refused. In 1818 it was planned to
set up the Federal Central Military School here. This project did not
come to fruition, nor did the establishment of a cantonal teachers'
college.
Finally, the educator Johann Karl Christian Lippe
(1779–1853), who worked in Hofwil, showed interest. In the fall of 1822
he informed the city council that he wanted to run an educational
institute for boys and submitted an application for a lease. The
cantonal government initially gave him the property free of charge for
five years, but he had to carry out all the necessary repairs himself.
The lease was then extended every three years, with annual interest of
300 francs. The institute began operations on February 11, 1823. In the
1830s it had up to 50 students and twelve teachers, including: the
geography teacher Johann Gottfried Lüdde. The majority of their
education here was given to Protestant French people from Alsace and
Midi, whose parents distrusted the Catholic-influenced French school
system. Lippe's educational principles were largely identical to those
of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, with whom he was friends. The political
instability due to the revolutions of 1848/49 led to a decline in
students. Because of high operating and maintenance costs, Lippe had to
take out loans that he could not repay. One day after the end of school
operations on September 30, 1853, which had been agreed with the
creditors, Lippe died.
At the beginning of 1857 there was a
military hospital in the castle for a short time. In June 1859, 120
Austrian soldiers who had fled to Switzerland after the defeats at
Magenta and Solferino were interned during the Sardinian War. In March
1860, the Grand Council of the Canton of Aargau decided to accept a
purchase offer from the Zurich silk manufacturer Konrad
Pestalozzi-Scotchburn, whereupon the castle and the associated domain
changed hands for 60,000 francs. It is not known whether Pestalozzi ever
lived there. In February 1871, during the Franco-Prussian War, the Armée
de l'Est led by General Charles Denis Bourbaki crossed into Swiss
territory. The city of Lenzburg was ordered to accept 600 soldiers. Only
in the castle could so many people be accommodated at short notice.
Ovens had to be installed in a hurry, food delivered and an emergency
hospital set up. The internees returned to France at the beginning of
March 1871, and the hospital remained open until the end of April.
The heirs of Pestalozzi, who had since died, wanted to sell the
castle and unsuccessfully offered it to the canton of Aargau in
September 1871. A year later it came into the possession of Friedrich
Wilhelm Wedekind for 90,000 francs. He emigrated to San Francisco in
1849 after the failed March Revolution, where he made a fortune in real
estate speculation during the California gold rush. Returning to Europe
in 1864, he emigrated again in 1871 to protest against the
Prussian-dominated German Empire, now to Switzerland, and settled in the
castle with his wife Emilie Kammerer. His six children, including the
future chamber singer Erika Wedekind and the writers Frank Wedekind and
Donald Wedekind, spent their youth here.
Friedrich Wilhelm
Wedekind died in 1888, and the family then tried to sell the castle. On
the one hand, a considerable part of the family's wealth was invested in
the property, but on the other hand, the children were pushing for their
share of the inheritance to be paid out. To bridge the gap, Emilie
Kammerer ran a guesthouse that was not very profitable. In March 1892,
the American industrialist August Edward Jessup purchased the castle for
120,000 francs. Jessup was from Philadelphia but had lived in England
for a long time. He was married to Mildred Marion Bowes-Lyon, aunt of
Queen Mother Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon; He was therefore related by marriage
to the British royal family. From the beginning, the new owner had
planned a comprehensive renovation, seeking advice from art historian
Josef Zemp. By dismantling the newer additions and military facilities,
the castle was largely restored to the condition that Plepp recorded in
1624. In addition, Jessup had the interior furnished with valuable
furniture and modern technology such as central heating, water
connection and electricity installed. The work lasted from 1893 to 1903
and cost half a million francs.
James William Ellsworth, another
American industrialist and collector of medieval art, had learned that
there was a table from the time of Emperor Barbarossa at Lenzburg
Castle. He wanted to add this to his collection and therefore made an
offer to buy it. However, he could only purchase the table together with
the entire castle. The Lenzburg changed hands in 1911 for 550,000
francs. His son, the polar explorer Lincoln Ellsworth, inherited the
castle in 1925. Although he only lived at the Lenzburg temporarily, he
planned various expeditions here together with Roald Amundsen. This
happened in the so-called “Amundsen Room” in the bailiwick.
After Lincoln Ellsworth's death in 1951, the widow Marie Louise
Ellsworth-Ulmer inherited the property, which she wanted to sell a few
years later because of the high maintenance costs. When some interested
parties came forward, the canton of Aargau intervened and contacted the
city of Lenzburg in July 1955 to jointly purchase the castle and thus
avoid speculation. The purchase agreement concluded on December 19, 1955
contained the following conditions: The city of Lenzburg acquired the
parts of the property that did not directly belong to the castle complex
(building land, agricultural operation) for 1.5 million francs. The
Lenzburg Castle Foundation, founded jointly by the canton and the city,
acquired the castle hill, the buildings on it as well as the furniture
and collections for 500,000 francs. The treaty came into force on June
30, 1956.
In 1960 the Stapferhaus Foundation moved into the “Back
House”. In April 1970, the Grand Council approved a loan of 9.25 million
francs for the comprehensive renovation of the castle. After lengthy
preparation, this was carried out between 1978 and 1986, under the
direction of the architect Dieter Boller and in collaboration with the
cantonal and federal monument protection authorities. The work served to
preserve the structure of the building and adapt the buildings to future
museum operations. At the same time, the Aargau Cantonal Archeology
Department carried out extensive research. The archaeological
excavations made it possible to gain numerous new insights. In 1987, the
Aargau Historical Museum was opened in Lenzburg Castle (it has been
known as the Aargau Museum since 2007). The institution took over the
canton's historical collections, a small part of which had been
exhibited in the castle since 1956, but which had mostly been stored in
depots. The lighting has been non-compliant since 2007 due to
non-compliance with light pollution regulations. A building application
for new lighting is currently pending.
approx. 1000–1173: Counts of Lenzburg
1173: Emperor Barbarossa
1173–ca. 1230: Count Palatine Otto and close relatives
approx.
1230–1273: Counts of Kyburg
1273–1415: Counts of Habsburg (Dukes
of Austria, German Kings)
1415–1798: City of Bern (fully owned
from 1433, seat of the governor from 1444)
1804–1860: Canton of
Aargau (leased as an educational home from 1822 to 1853)
1860–1872: Konrad Pestalozzi-Scotchburn
1872–1893: Friedrich
Wilhelm Wedekind (father of Frank Wedekind)
1893–1911: August
Edward Jessup
1911-1925: James Ellsworth
1925–1951: Lincoln
Ellsworth, son of James
1951–1956: Marie Luise Ellsworth-Ulmer,
widow of Lincoln
1956–today: Lenzburg Castle Foundation
The seven buildings of the castle are grouped in a horseshoe shape around a flat inner courtyard that is open to the southwest. The Stapferhaus is in the northwest. The north wing includes the gates and therefore the only access. In the northeast corner is the former bailiwick, which is adjoined by the eastern bastion. The palace and tower in the southeast form the oldest parts of the complex, the knight's house forms the end to the south.
The entrance to the castle is on the northwest side of the complex.
You can reach the lower gatehouse, built in 1625, via stairs or the old
castle path. The arch of the gate is framed by irregular embossed
blocks. Above it is a relief panel with the coats of arms of Bern, the
empire and Governor Peter Bucher, flanked by lions with an imperial orb
and sword. Another staircase leads through the adjoining kennel to the
middle gatehouse, which also dates from 1625 and was expanded in
1761/62. It is designed as a one-story house with a hipped roof,
embossed masonry, arched portal and embrasures. Above the arch opening
there is a projecting bay window with a curved gable top above four
decorated consoles. During the renovation from 1978 to 1986, an
underground connection to the cellar of the Stapferhaus was created. The
castle path then turns 180 degrees; it leads up to the drawbridge and
through the upper gatehouse into the inner courtyard. The circular wall
stands directly on the rock and follows its course, although the height
is inconsistent. It dates from around the second half of the 15th
century and has remained essentially unchanged. It is partly decorated
with battlements, which are sloped and covered with tiles.
At the
southwest end of the inner courtyard, in front of the Stapferhaus, there
is a baroque garden. A garden was first mentioned in a document from
1560. In the early 17th century it was spatially limited by a fence and
an armory. Samuel Steck, governor from 1771 to 1778, had the garden
redesigned based on the French model, with two paths crossing at right
angles, which divide the lawn into four fields of equal size. There was
also a pavilion built onto the curtain wall. The armory was demolished
around 1890. About ten years later, castle owner Jessup made major
changes by lawning the courtyard and planting exotic trees and shrubs.
As part of the palace renovation in 1982, Steck's garden was restored to
its original state and two years later the lawn in the inner courtyard
was replaced with a gravel area. At the intersection of the longitudinal
and transverse axes of the garden there is a water basin made of
Mägenwil shell limestone with a small fountain.
The north wing is a group of interconnected houses, consisting of the
upper gatehouse, the remains of the northern keep and the new bailiwick.
The upper gatehouse, the only entrance to the inner courtyard, was
probably built after a fire in 1518, although some of it contains older
foundations. This is believed to be the location of the Aarburghaus,
built in 1339, which fell victim to the flames. Above the lintel there
is a plaque installed in 1596 with the coats of arms of the empire, the
Berne estate and the von Erlach family.
To the east of the
gatehouse is the northern keep, which has been connected to the
neighboring buildings by a shared gable roof since it was completely
renovated between 1718 and 1720. The gate system and prison were once
located here. Only the west wall and parts of the foundation on the
south and east walls remain of the original building. A sandstone relief
from 1720 on the inner courtyard side, which shows a bear, is a reminder
of the renovation; The coats of arms of the governor and the
Seckelmeister, which were also planned, were not implemented.
On
the site of a guard and wash house built in 1625, a new domicile for the
governor was built between 1672 and 1674. The neighboring bailiwick on
the northeast corner was no longer habitable at that time because
moisture had penetrated the walls after the eastern bastion was filled.
On the courtyard side, Daniel Stürler added a staircase in 1731/32. Its
narrow facade is structured by evenly laid boss blocks, horizontal
joints and a cornice. Today the museum administration is located in the
building.
The bailiwick is a three-story late Gothic town house with a stepped
gable and a steep gable roof. It served as the official and residential
building of the Bernese governors after the previous building, which
dates back to the 14th century, was destroyed by fire in 1518. In
contrast to the other houses, the bailiwick does not border directly on
the curtain wall; the distance is one to two meters. The exception is a
small round tower from 1626 on its southeast corner, which replaced a
wooden toilet bay.
The pentagonal stair tower, which was added to
the front in 1630, replaced a steeper staircase inside the building. The
original onion helmet was replaced with a hipped roof in 1760, and in
1761/62 parts of the south facade had to be demolished and rebuilt due
to moisture damage. Some of the entrance room dates from around 1460. On
the first floor, a hall that was expanded in 1565 extends along the
entire north side. From 1646 the bailiwick was uninhabitable because
moisture had penetrated. From 1902 to 1904, Jessup had the earth wall of
the eastern bastion lowered by two floors, which enabled the building to
be renovated. The bailiwick was expanded towards the courtyard and given
a neo-Gothic facade.
The bastion on the eastern edge of the inner courtyard was built
between 1642 and 1646 on the site of a bulwark built in 1582, which was
already outdated at the time of its construction. By closing the gap
between the palace and the bailiwick, the castle was to be protected
from possible cannon fire from the Goffersberg opposite. The old bulwark
walls were incorporated into the shell of the new fortifications. The
adjacent bailiwick was covered by a massive earth wall, which attracted
moisture and made the building uninhabitable. In 1659 a clock tower was
added to the eastern bastion, and the pointed roof gave way to an onion
dome in 1760. In 1893/94 Jessup had the outer wall reduced by six
meters, which exposed the bricked-up windows on the south side of the
bailiwick again. A rose garden was created on the area of the lowered
wall. During the overall renovation (1978–1986), the last remnants of
the earth wall were removed and a basement was hollowed out.
A
narrow spiral staircase set into the courtyard wall leads to the eleven
meter high tin-studded wall. Chambers on three floors adjoin the spiral
staircase, recognizable by the façade windows facing the courtyard. A
round arched portal with square pilaster strips and a spherical
triangular gable marks the entrance. There is a coat of arms embedded in
the façade, some of which is weathered; The coats of arms of the
bailiffs Hans Weyermann and Daniel Lerber can be seen. The clock tower's
dial was painted by H. J. Horer, the clockwork was by Tobias Liechti. On
the rose garden side, a gallery connects the bailiwick with the palace.
The rectangular palace with a pent roof was built around 1100 on behalf of the Counts of Lenzburg as an 18 meter high, reinforced residential building with four floors. The floor plan is rectangular with a side length of 13.8 × 8 meters. Together with the adjacent tower, the palace, built from layered house stones and slanted quarry stones, is one of the oldest buildings in the castle. The entrance was originally on the third floor and could only be reached by an outdoor wooden staircase. The main floor had a fireplace, the fourth floor served as a bedroom, and the first and second floors served as a pantry. At the time of the Bernese bailiffs, the building was called “Strecke” because the torture chamber was located in it. In 1592/99 the palace received a new entrance with an archway on the ground floor. Between 1978 and 1986, the floor divisions and stair connections were rearranged to enable contemporary museum operations.
The tower (also known as the southern keep) is laid out in a square
measuring 10 × 10 meters and has three meter thick walls. It was added
to the palace around 1150 and used its western flank as an end wall.
After the death of the client Ulrich IV, construction work was stopped
and the building remained unfinished for over 170 years. It was not
completed until 1344, when two more floors with smaller walls were
added. During the Bernese rule, from around the early 17th century, the
prison was located on the first floor. The top floor has a mock
crenelation under the hipped roof and is finished at the bottom with an
arched frieze.
In order to create greater capacity for grain
storage, the tower and the neighboring knight's house with the sod well
in between were connected by an unadorned functional building in
1728/29. The north facade had to be removed because the tower was not
arranged at the same angle as the knight's house. Jessup had the granary
demolished in 1896 and the tower restored to its original condition. The
sodwell, first mentioned in 1369, was uncovered again. During the
overall renovation (1978–1986), the floors were reorganized and the
stairs were arranged differently.
Construction of the knight's house began in 1339. The Habsburg Duke
Friedrich II was supposed to have the daughter of the English King
Edward III at Lenzburg Castle. get married, which is why a
representative residential building in the Gothic style was
commissioned. The young duke died in 1344 shortly before the
construction work was completed, so the walls remained unplastered for
the time being. The western part was in such poor condition in 1509 that
it had to be demolished and rebuilt. In the eastern part, the outer
walls remained, but here too the interior was completely redesigned. The
building received new roof beams and several pillars to improve the
statics, and the walls were now plastered. The length of the house was
reduced slightly because the western outer wall was demolished and
rebuilt further east. Around 1590 the building had become more and more
of a large barn with a grain store and wine press, and at the same time
it received embrasures. In 1758 the interior of the building was
completely redesigned again. Thanks to newly constructed intermediate
floors, even more grain could be stored. In 1893 the original condition
was restored as best as possible. The intermediate floors were removed
and the upper floor hall regained its pointed arched windows. Today the
hall can be rented for social events.
The two-story hall building
with a rectangular floor plan measuring 28 × 17 meters has a mighty
hipped roof. While the upper hall occupies the entire width, the lower
hall borders a corridor. A Gothic window band made of arched arcades
with pointed-arched twin windows adorns the entire length of the small
hall on the south side, while the arcades are missing in the twin
windows on the upper floor. Rectangular windows break the lower part of
the north wall. The two-story roof structure is covered with pointed
plain tiles.
Next to the knight's house there was a small one
dedicated to St. Chapel dedicated to Fortunatus. It was first mentioned
in a document in 1369. After almost four centuries it had fallen into
such disrepair that it had to be demolished in 1762/63.
In 1600, a new, two-story utility building, the “Rear House,” was
built on the southwest side of the palace complex. It was created by
combining the stable and mill under a single roof. The house was
extended eastwards to the north wing in 1705/07 to create additional
capacity for grain storage. In 1761/62 part of the south facade had to
be rebuilt due to moisture damage. The granary extension was demolished
in 1893 and replaced by a reconstructed battlement that leads over to
the upper gatehouse. Today the Rear House is named after Philipp Albert
Stapfer, a revolutionary and minister of the Helvetic Republic.
The elongated, three-story building has a hipped roof that is
double-covered with plain tiles. The simple windows are arranged
regularly. Three loggias adjoin the east side: the one on the ground
floor is brick, the two above are made of wood. Structurally and
stylistically connected to this are the covered battlement and the grain
hopper underneath, which is attached to the defensive wall. Since summer
2018, after years in the armory in Lenzburg, the Stapferhaus Foundation
has moved into its new Stapferhaus building directly at Lenzburg train
station, where it has found more spacious exhibition space.
The Lenzburg Castle Museum, part of the Museum Aargau, formerly known
as the Aargau Historical Museum, is divided into four areas: residential
museum (in the bailiwick), new permanent exhibition (in the palace and
in the tower), history studio and temporary exhibitions (in the eastern
bastion) and children's museum (in the attic of the bailiwick). The
museum is visited by around 70,000 people every year, around a third of
which are school classes.
The 30-year-old residential museum was
supplemented in 2011 with projections and radio plays, which provide an
insight into the lives of the bailiffs Adrian von Bubenberg and Peter
Bucher as well as the castle owner August Edward Jessup and his wife
Mildred Marion Bowes-Lyon. The ground floor is dedicated to the late
Middle Ages. In the paneling room, the walls and ceiling are almost
completely covered with wooden paneling (panelling). There are various
simple furniture in the room, including a box table for storing writing
utensils, various folding chairs, and chests and cupboards. The living
room contains a reconstructed dome oven from the 14th century. The
medieval kitchen is in its original location, with the stove and
extractor having been reconstructed. Original kitchen utensils are also
on display. On the first floor, living during the Renaissance and
Baroque eras is presented. The living room is furnished with a
four-poster bed, cupboard, tapestries and a fireplace. The reconstructed
kitchen shows the progress in household management since the late Middle
Ages. A faience tiled stove and hunting utensils characterize the
Landvogtstube. Attached to it is the bay window-like writing room. The
second floor shows living in the 19th century. Depictions of animal
scenes and floral still lifes dominate the salon, whose luxurious
furnishings are in the Louis Seize style. An Aargau tiled stove from
1775 is noteworthy. In the bedroom, idyllic landscapes and fantasy
worlds are depicted on the stucco ceiling, and the furniture comes from
the Rococo period. The music room has been largely preserved in its
original condition.
The historical collections are grouped into
subject groups. The prison in the tower, which has largely been
preserved in its original condition, explains the legal system and penal
system in the 17th century. You can see, among other things: Prongs
carved into the wood by the prisoners and various torture instruments.
In the residential tower and the tower, the museum focuses on the early
history of the castle with the Counts of Lenzburg, the Counts of Kyburg
and the Habsburgs. The children's museum conveys the history of the
castle in an age-appropriate manner, using the most modern museum
educational knowledge. The children can process the impressions they
gained during the tour in a playful way. On the upper floor of the
children's museum, the "PLIRRK!" was created in collaboration with
children. decorated to commemorate the life and work of the polar
explorer Lincoln Ellsworth, the last private owner of the castle. The
eastern bastion houses an exhibition room in the basement in which there
is a history studio for families and young people, with the topics
"Knights", "Collecting", "School System" and "Court and Punishment".
Smaller special exhibitions on other topics from the castle's history
also take place in the old cultural property protection room.
The facility has been owned by the “Lenzburg Castle Foundation” since
1956. The canton holds three quarters of this and the city of Lenzburg
holds one quarter. The purpose of the foundation is “to preserve the
castle properties in their existence and character, to make the castle
accessible to the public and to make the existing buildings available to
cultural endeavors in a meaningful way”. The foundation has to generate
most of its financial needs itself, which is why it rents out the
Ritterhaus to hold events. There are usually around 160 events annually
(three quarters private, one quarter from public institutions) with a
total of 15,000 to 20,000 participants.
The “Friends of Lenzburg”
association, founded in 1958, supports the foundation’s goals by
“promoting the cultural and social life of the canton of Aargau and the
city of Lenzburg in particular through appropriate events.” This
includes, in particular, classical concerts and theater performances in
the inner courtyard or in the knight's house.
The Lenzburg Folk
Festival took place in the castle from 1972 to 1980. It was the first
and most influential folk festival in Switzerland.
From 1960 to
2018, the Stapferhaus Foundation used the “Rear House”. The name
Stapferhaus referred to Philipp Albert Stapfer, the Minister of
Education of the Helvetic Republic. The foundation initially saw itself
as a discussion forum at the interface between culture and science, and
since 1992 it has also organized exhibitions on contemporary topics. The
Stapferhaus is now located in a new building in the city of Lenzburg.
The “Bernerhaus”, as the “Rear House” was originally called, has been
rebuilt and now houses the bistro. There are meeting and conference
rooms in the upper rooms.