Wimmis Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Wimmis Castle (Schloss Wimmis) overlooks the village of Wimmis, in the canton of Bern, at the foot of the Burgfluh. Its origins, which are uncertain, date back to the 12th–13th centuries: it may have succeeded a fortified royal court and was the seat of the lords of Wimmis, then of the barons of Strättligen and Weissenburg. During the conflict that pitted the latter against Bern, the stronghold was besieged several times; after the defeat of 1334, Johann von Weissenburg had to acknowledge Bernese suzerainty. Passing to the Brandis and then to the Scharnachtal families, the castle was bought back by Bern in 1449, which made it the seat of the Niedersimmental bailiwick. Equipped with a keep and a palas, it was transformed in stages, above all in the 17th and 18th centuries, into a palace-type castle, then renovated in 1789–1790, 1949–1951 and 1984–1987. From 1803 it housed the district administration, and then the court until 2010. Classified as a Swiss cultural property of national significance, it now belongs to the municipality of Wimmis and is open only for occasional visits.