Hermitage with ruins of Birseck Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Birseck Castle, or Vordere Burg Birseck, stands on a spur of the Jura above Arlesheim (Basel-Landschaft) and gave its name to an entire region. Built in 1243–1244 by the Prince-Bishop of Basel, Lüthold II, with a curtain wall, round tower and palas, it is the only one of the four Birseck fortresses that the bishopric kept in its own hands, and the seat of its bailiffs. The earthquake of 1356 largely destroyed it; it was restored, modernised around 1450, and then transformed into a Baroque ensemble in the 17th century. Abandoned from 1762, put up for auction in 1794, it was bought in 1808 by Konrad von Andlau-Birseck, who turned it into a Romantic ruin integrated into the landscape garden of the Ermitage, created from 1780 onwards, the largest sentimental garden in Switzerland. The chapel was revaulted, a "knights' hall" was erected in the courtyard, and the tower was given neo-Gothic battlements, a wall walk and a belvedere. Pottery shards attest to occupation of the hill from the Bronze Age. The castle and the Ermitage have belonged to a foundation since 1998.